


Muted Contact

by Reader115



Series: Muted Stories [2]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:19:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 44,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7012246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reader115/pseuds/Reader115
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The family begins to settle into the relationships that came to light during "Muted Victory". Despite the title, this story contains FULL contact fun. T-cest (RxL), Capritello, & MikeyxWoody. I don't own the turtles. </p><p>Update: Placed 2nd in the "Hottest Group" category (for a certain fun scene with Capritello) in the 2016 Universal Fanfic Competition. Certificate included in the final chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hi, there. If you're new here, I'd read "Muted Victory" before reading this.

Donnie typed a few more things into his computer, essentially locking it, mainly so Mikey couldn't break into it, and turned off the lights in the lab. Casey and April had been over earlier for dinner, but both had left shortly after. April had an exam to study for and Casey had early hockey practice. Donnie realized, as he watched the two of them leave together, that the jealousy he'd once felt at Casey's ability to freely walk April home was gone.

The kisses he'd received from both of them when they left probably had something to do with it.

Although the kisses had been swift and in the privacy of his lab. Leo said their father was already dealing with enough right now including the freedoms that came with Shredder's death and Karai's full return to them. Their leader thought it was best that they not share the many changes that had come about for all four of them recently. Donnie wasn't sure keeping it from him was the best idea, but since he was still trying to figure this thing out with Casey and April, he had quickly agreed. Raph had grumbled, but Donnie was leaving him to Leo to deal with. He smiled as he realized he could mostly leave Raph to Leo to deal with from now on and not feel guilty.

Mikey had agreed to the secrecy as well, although without complaint. Donnie still remembered his shock at seeing his little brother kissing a strange human in the farmhouse front lawn when he and Casey had driven the stranded four-wheeler back to the house. He had called Leo and Raph out to the front yard, despite Mikey's protests that those two should be left alone, and the other brothers' aggravation at being interrupted from whatever they'd been doing, _Donnie hadn't asked_ , quickly disappeared as they spotted the strange newcomer who was nervously smiling at them while Mikey kept an arm looped around his shoulders.

April joined the group, after hearing the loud arguing going on between Leo and Mikey, and once she was there, Mikey introduced them all to Woody. Woody had apparently been Mikey's boyfriend for practically a whole year. Ninja or not, Donnie, Raph and Leo had had _no idea_ Mikey could actually keep a secret like that.

Woody had stayed with them the rest of the week and although Donnie was pretty busy spending time with his own humans, from what he did see, he noted that Woody was not obnoxious, could cook delicious pizza, and made Mikey laugh. Donnie even suggested to Leo that he stop giving Mikey the silent treatment, not that he'd listened yet, because Donnie liked the way Mikey's face lit up when he looked at Woody.

But he'd worry about Leo and Mikey later. Or maybe let Raphael handle that one, another bonus to those two being together, and for now, he smiled as he walked into his room. He quickly froze, though, as he realized there was someone sleeping in his bed. For a moment he thought maybe Mikey had given up on ever finding his own bed again in the middle of his landfill of a room. But even without turning on the light, he could see that the lump in his bed wasn't big enough to be Mikey. Whoever it was, was without a shell.

Donnie moved silently across the room and stared down at a sleeping Casey Jones sprawled out across his bed. Two weeks ago this would've seemed strange. Two weeks ago he probably would've grabbed Casey by the ankle and dragged him out of there. But now – Donnie paused his thoughts and used one finger to slide some black hair off Casey's forehead.

Casey's eyes immediately opened and he smiled when he saw Donnie leaning over him.

"You did leave with April earlier, right?"

Casey nodded and stretched his arms over his head. Donnie tried not to focus on the feeling he got when he heard the satisfied groan the stretch produced.

"Yeah," Casey finally said, his voice full of sleep. "Walked her home. Then came back."

"Why?" Donnie asked as he sat on the edge of his bed and began pulling his gear off. He heard a shift behind him and knew that Casey was moving himself closer to the wall. He glanced behind him to confirm and found Casey's dark eyes pinned on his hands as he undid the wrappings around his ankles.

Casey's eyes moved up to Donnie's face, aware that Donnie had asked him something but he'd completely missed it. He watched Donnie shake his head at him with a smile.

"Why'd you come back?" Donnie repeated. "Thought you needed a good night's rest before your morning practice?"

"I do," Casey said, letting his eyes lower again to watch Donnie's hands work. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since they'd returned from the farmhouse. They may not been doing much more than kissing since they'd started this thing, but they'd all slept in the same bed for the remainder of their farmhouse stay. They'd even swapped out who acted as the middle pillow, although it didn't really matter to Casey. He'd slept peacefully. And he wanted that again.

Donnie nodded in understanding back to Casey. He pushed off the last of his gear and settled himself down on the mattress with a yawn. Casey grinned and scooted closer to him, allowing Donnie to curl up along his side. In response, Casey threw one of his legs over Donnie's legs and let out a happy sigh as his hands landed on the arm Donnie had wrapped around his waist.

"What about April?" Donnie asked. They were still trying to figure out how a relationship of three would work best. He wasn't sure if he should feel okay being cuddled up with just Casey, or if he should feel worried about April's reaction to being left out.

"I offered," Casey murmured back. He let his fingers move slowly over Donnie's forearm. "She said she was gonna study all night. Told me it was fine if I wanted to come back and see if this would be okay with ya."

"This is weird."

"Me bein here?" Casey asked, tensing as he looked up to meet Donnie's eyes.

"Well that too," Donnie teased, although he wrapped his arm tighter around Casey's waist so the hockey player couldn't move.

Casey squirmed anyway when Donnie's fingers hit a ticklish spot on his side and the momentary upset that Donnie didn't really want him there without April immediately vanished.

"What then?" Casey asked.

"Well, how would you feel if it was just me and April here like this?"

"Oh," Casey said, realizing finally where Don's brain was going. He tightened his hands around Donnie and even let one slide up Donnie's arm to rub over his shoulder. "Guess we got some stuff to work out."

Donnie nodded, although his attention was quickly centering on Casey's fingers moving over his skin. Casey's hand left his shoulder and moved to slide down his plastron.

"Why is tomorrow's practice so important?" Donnie asked, doing his best not to stutter while also distracting himself from those warm fingers.

"Coach is gonna decide who starts the next game," Casey murmured in response. He pressed his fingers harder against Donnie's plastron and looked up to meet his eyes. "Can you feel that?"

Donnie nodded and wondered if Casey could tell that his breathing had quickened. "The plastron is laced with nerve endings, so – mmph."

Casey cut off Donnie's educational speech with a kiss before he pressed his fingers into the cartilage between the plates. He pulled away and grinned when he finally earned a soft noise from Donatello. "There's the yes I was looking for."

Donnie ignored the smirk and pressed forward to cover Casey's mouth for another kiss. He let his fingers brush over the ticklish spot he'd found earlier on Casey's side. Casey immediately flinched, not that Donnie's arms were allowing much movement.

"Can you feel that?" Donnie mimicked and was rewarded with a real laugh from Casey.

Casey scooted himself impossibly closer to Donatello and let his head tilt against Donnie's. He smiled to himself, proud of the accomplishment that was seeing Donnie loosen up and play with him.

"Goodnight, Jones," Donnie murmured, letting his own eyes close. It was late and worrying about how he was going to sneak Casey out in the morning would have to wait.

"Night, nerd."


	2. Chapter 2

He could hear his shell scrape against the sewer wall as his hands tried to pull Leo even closer to him where they stood. Leo let himself be shifted by the strong turtle, currently too distracted by the way Raph's biceps shifted when he massaged his fingers over them. Leo didn't know if the flexing was intentional to impress him or just a natural reflex, nor did he care as long as it continued.

Leo churred again as Raph's hand slid down to grab his ass and the noise prompted Raphael to quickly switch their positions. He pressed his weight into Leo and trapped him steadily against the wall. Instead of putting up any resistance against the change in position, Leo sank pliantly against the wall and eagerly met Raphael's mouth for another heated kiss.

Now it was Leo's turn to pull Raph towards him, doing his best to get their lower plastrons to grind against each other. His breath sucked in at the first scraping drag and he heard a gruff noise from Raphael before Raph jumped away from him. Leo's eyes popped open at the loss of Raph's warm weight and he stared across the small tunnel at Raphael, who leaned panting against the opposite wall.

"Raph?" He heard Raph grunt but got no further response. "What's wrong?"

"That's too good," Raph said after a long moment of silence.

Leo smiled. "It's supposed to be good."

Raphael kept his eyes away from Leo's face. He didn't want to see the heat and desire he knew would be there. He turned instead and sent his fist into the wall.

Leo lost his smile and remained silent as he watched Raphael and read the frustration on his face. Leo wasn't extremely familiar with how relationships usually went, but so far Raphael had pulled away from him every time they got any further than kissing and below the belt touches that Leo initiated. Maybe he was expecting too much too soon in their relationship, but they weren't exactly a couple of naive kids who'd just met. He _knew_ Raphael, although he had to admit he didn't understand Raphael's current frustration. And equally important, he'd _wanted_ Raphael for as long as he could remember. And to find out that Raphael wanted him back still sent sparks through his system. At least, he thought Raphael wanted him back. Jumping away from him just now didn't exactly scream a strong desire for them to be together.

"We don't have to touch anymore Raph, if it makes you uncomfortable, or if you don't want -,"

"I want ya," Raph rumbled over to him.

Leo watched as Raph finally focused on him. The green eyes were electric and Leo licked his lips and forgot for a moment what he'd been trying to say before.

"What are we waiting for?" Leo finally ventured to ask.

"What are ya waitin for?"

Leo frowned before realization dawned as he thought about the other topic currently causing Raphael grief. He tilted his head in thought at Raph before tentatively moving towards him in order to be close enough to slide his hand along the side of Raph's face.

"You really want to tell Master Splinter about us right now?"

"I'm not sure ya ever want to tell him," Raph quickly countered despite the shiver Leo's hand had sent through him. "And ya made the decision for _everyone_. Are ya scared of what he'll say?"

Leo sighed. "I just don't want to over-burden him, Raphael. He's had some huge changes recently -,"

"Look at his life, Fearless. Ya don't think he can handle changes?"

"Getting his daughter back is pretty major, though."

Raph scoffed and took a step back, pulling his face away from Leo's hand, despite the fact that he liked the way Leo's thumb had been moving lightly over his cheek.

"Maybe ya don't want em to know so that Karai will keep flirtin with ya."

Leo frowned again. "Excuse me?"

"She's ogling ya durin practice. And she's flirtin with ya."

"I haven't noticed her flirting with me-,"

"She called ya Fearless."

"It's a nickname," Leo said, still confused.

"A nickname I gave ya," Raph said. "Its _mine_."

"Well how am I supposed to ask her not to use it? Don't you think that would be kind of suspicious?"

"Exactly," Raph huffed out as he crossed his arms over his plastron. He moved across the sewer tunnel again and leaned his shell against the opposite wall.

Leo sighed. Again. He felt like they were going in circles and he hated it. He'd much rather have Raph pressing him into the wall like before. But since it looked like that wasn't going to happen, he thought back to another issue Raph had raised.

"You said I made this decision for everyone. Have Donnie or Mikey complained to you about keeping everything secret?"

Raph shook his head and resumed glaring at the ground again. With his new relationship with Leo, Raph wasn't sure the other two would come to him anyway if they had concerns. Although, Donnie currently seemed fine with keeping it all secret seeing as how Raph had spotted Casey sneaking out of Donnie's room that morning only to plop down on their couch, apparently intent on appearing as if he'd spent the night out in the pit.

"I still think its best that Donnie keeps this quiet for now," Leo said, almost more to himself than to Raphael. "I mean, we don't really know what's going to happen with those three."

"Ya sound suspicious all of a sudden," Raph said, eyeing Leo since Leo's unfocused eyes were currently looking elsewhere. "Ya were all for it when Donnie and Casey told us about it."

"I know, but I've had some time to think about it since then. I mean, that was sprung on us at the same moment that they caught _us_ kissing." His eyes met Raph's again at the memory of that first kiss. "You can't blame me for not thinking straight at the time."

Raph wanted to focus on that first kiss again as well, but something was niggling at him about Leo's new concerns.

"Given that you and me were raised as brothers, I really don't see that ya can balk at Donnie bein with two people."

"It's not about the three of them," Leo said, quickly noting the steel in Raph's new tone of voice. "We – we know how Donnie has felt about April all this time."

"And? He still feels that way. That's why they're together." Raphael paused and then straightened himself against the wall. "Not about the three of them," he said, repeating Leo's earlier words. "So yer just worried about Casey, then."

"I guess I just don't see how Casey fits into that equation. I mean, maybe he should've backed off and let the other two be happy."

"So Casey should've been left out in the cold?"

"Do you really think he has feelings for Donnie?"

"Nah, I guess he's just likes gettin in the way of other people's happiness," Raph gruffly responded.

Leo's eyes snapped back to Raphael and he found the other glaring at him. "I didn't say that," Leo quickly defended.

"No, yer just callin my best friend a liar."

"No, Raph, that's not -,"

"Yer gonna give Casey shit? After everything we've been through with him? We can trust _Casey_ , Leo," Raph said, practically growling. "Mike is the one who brought an _actual_ stranger right up to the farmhouse with no fuckin warning to the rest of us."

"I'm not happy with Michelangelo right now -,"

"We all got that," Raph cut in. "You've been clearly ignorin the kid. I'm surprised Master Splinter hasn't asked you about it."

Leo straightened himself as well and frowned back at Raphael. He swore that Raph was throwing Mikey under the bus a minute ago in favor of defending Casey, but now it seemed like Raph was defending their youngest brother as well.

"So," Leo said, quickly reviewing their entire conversation, "I'm scared of our father, flirting with Karai, distrustful of Casey, and being unfair to Mikey. Did I miss anything?"

"This ain't just about ya, Fearless."

"Sure sounds like it's about me," Leo said defensively. "Sounds like I'm a pretty terrible turtle. What are you doing with me anyway?"

Raph glared at Leo for twisting his words. "Suddenly I'm not sure," he growled. "Maybe I should save myself a bunch of trouble."

The immediate expression of pain on Leo's face twisted his gut, but he could practically feel the heat of his anger radiating down his arms.

Leo's heart sank as he watched Raph turn and stomp away from him.


	3. Chapter 3

"He's still not talking to you?"

Mikey casually lifted one shoulder and then bit into another piece of pizza. He and Woody sat on the ledge of the pizzeria's rooftop, and Mikey was just happy to be eating his favorite snack with Woody's leg pressed up against his own.

Woody glanced over at Mikey while he ate his own slice. He didn't like the sad look in Mikey's big blue eyes, nor did he like Mikey being punished for something related to the two of them.

"I shouldn't have met you up there."

"They were gonna meet you sooner or later," Mikey said with another shoulder lift. He'd been hoping it would've gone a little better, though. He swallowed his bite of pizza and glanced over at Woody. Woody had the friendliest brown eyes and the curliest blonde hair and Mikey had no idea how anyone could _not_ love him on the spot. And he'd had fun with Woody up at the farmhouse, despite Leo's anger. Plus, he'd kind of thought that Leo would've gotten over it by the time they returned home.

"What about the others?"

"They're not ignoring me, but -," Mikey paused and thought back to that morning in the kitchen. Donnie, Raph, and Casey, who'd apparently spent the night, had thanked him for breakfast. And they would answer him if he asked a question. But his brothers didn't make eye contact with him. "They're following Leo's lead I guess. That's what we're trained to do after all."

Woody leaned over and kissed Mikey, doing his best to get rid of the pitiful smile Mikey was attempting. Mikey quickly rubbed his fingertips against his own legs to get rid of the pizza crumbs before reaching up to wrap his arms around Woody in order to pull him closer. Mikey's fast response wasn't unusual, but it still tugged at Woody's heart, since it was so apparent how desperate his typically happy-go-lucky turtle was for affection.

He rested his forehead against Mikey's forehead and smiled at him. "It's going to be okay, Mikey. Sooner or later he'll see that you're safe with me. I'll never do anything to hurt you."

Mikey nuzzled his face back against Woody's face and breathed in his scent. "Yeah," he agreed softly. His big brother _would_ have to come around sooner or later, because Mike knew Woody was someone he was never going to give up.

"Want to hear a joke?"

A grin spread across Mikey's face before he could stop it.

"No."

"Probably a good choice, because jokes about German sausage are the _wurst_." Woody grinned as he watched Mikey manage to laugh and groan at the same time. "Hey, how about this one, what does a clock do when it's hungry?"

Mikey grabbed Woody by the shoulders and swiftly pulled him towards him as he pushed himself backwards to land on his shell. Woody settled easily on his plastron, letting his knees fall between Mikey's legs on the rooftop, before meeting Mikey's lips for another kiss. Mikey let his fingers run through Woody's curls and let his own head fall back as he felt Woody's fingers move towards the slit on his plastron.

Woody grinned as he felt Mikey drop down for him. His mouth left kisses along the side of Mikey's face until he reached Mike's ear slit and finally got to whisper, "The clock goes back for seconds."

Mikey did his best to make his groan sound exasperated. "Your puns are the worst," he muttered as his hands traveled to the button on Woody's jeans. "But your hands are the best," he added with a grin to soothe Woody's pout.

Woody grinned again and leaned down for another kiss, determined to send his turtle home happy.

* * *

April looped her fingers through Casey's as they walked down the sewer tunnel and smiled as he squeezed them in return.

"So, did you get a good night sleep last night?" she asked.

"Sure did, Red."

"You guys do anything other than sleep?"

He glanced over at her and her raised eyebrow and thought back to what Donnie had said the night before about figuring things out between the three of them.

"You were okay with me comin back here to sleep with Donnie, right?" he asked.

April opened her mouth to answer, but then paused. "You know, -,"

"There you guys are," Donnie said, grinning when he finally spotted them around a turn. Both humans beamed back at him and since it had been longer since he'd last kissed April, he bent forward to kiss her in greeting first. Her scent alone could easily make him dizzy, let alone the feeling that came with knowing April was actually kissing him back.

When he pulled away and turned to Casey, he was greeted with a mock pout at being chosen second. Donnie only grinned at the hockey player and murmured "Ladies first," with a head tilt towards April. He decided to make it up to Casey, though, and not only pulled the hockey player into a kiss, but pushed his tongue forward to meet Casey's tongue.

April watched with interest as the two males shared a kiss that was admittedly more aggressive than the ones either of them shared with her. She wondered if they noticed the difference. She knew her cheeks had already pinkened after Donnie's kiss, but she was getting warmer and warmer as she watched the two of them now.

Donnie didn't pull away from Casey until he'd earned a small groan from the human. Casey slowly opened his eyes and was met with a self-satisfied grin from the tall turtle. He wanted to glower back at him, since that game wasn't something that Donnie pulled on April, but he couldn't get the look correct given the warmth that was running down his spine.

"We, uh, brought food," Casey said, his voice a little rougher than it had been a moment ago. He lifted the bag of take-out he was carrying in demonstration. "But didja want to go out?"

"No, I just wanted to greet you in the privacy of the tunnels, before you reached the lair." He turned and April looped her free arm through his as they walked back towards the lair.

"Is the secrecy bothering you?" April asked.

"I think its kinda fun," Casey said. "Like we're secret ninjas."

"You do realize that we're already secret ninjas, right?" Donnie asked with a grin over April's head to Casey.

"And don't you think we have enough secrets to hide already?" April asked, waving her hand around the sewer tunnel.

"Don't bust on my imagination!"

"Anyway," Donnie said, "for now, I'm fine with giving Leo a little more time before the secrets are all let out."

"Time for what?" Casey asked.

"Leo keeps going on and on about how sensei needs time to adjust to the changes, but I'm fairly certain it's _Leo_ who needs time to adjust. When we were at the farmhouse, Raph was the first to notice that Leo was upset."

"And I think now we know why Raph was the first to notice," April interjected with a smile.

"Yes, well, Mikey and I eventually noticed as well."

"Upset about what?" Casey asked.

"Well, even though our end goal was to stop the Shredder, the rest of us should've realized sooner how _actually_ _killing him_ would've affected Leo. He needed that time at the farmhouse not to celebrate, but to recover."

"Poor Leo," April said, nodding. "I didn't even notice."

Casey nodded as well. He'd wondered what Leo's problem had been and Donnie's explanation made perfect sense, not that he would've expected any less from the smart turtle.

"Then we throw all these other personal changes at him, including his own change in relationship with Raphael, and I think he just needs a little more time to adjust."

Their arms dropped to their own sides as they reached the lair, although they didn't see anyone as they walked to Donnie's lab. April smiled when she saw that Donnie had managed to add a new round table to the space, covered it with a table cloth, and stuck three chairs around it.

"And this doesn't draw attention?" she teased.

"Not with three chairs it doesn't," Donnie said back with a grin.

She smiled at him, thankful for his easy grins in her direction, free of his previous nerves and stuttering. She leaned up and kissed him quickly in thanks. He looked slightly surprised by the action, which she kind of loved as well, before he directed her over to the table.

They sat and ate. And talked. And laughed. And Donnie looked back and forth between the two of them and thought about how lucky he was. At one point he heard the tell-tale noises of a popular video game and assumed Mikey had made it home.

And when there was a lull in the conversation, his thoughts returned to his previous night with Casey.

"Do you think we need to have some guidelines?" he asked suddenly.

Casey frowned in confusion but April immediately smiled as she realized where Donnie was going.

"That sounds kind of formal, D," she said.

"Well, as much as I've been enjoying this so far, I just don't want anyone's feelings hurt," he said.

"Were you okay with last night, Red?" Casey asked, jumping in.

"Well," April said. She chewed on her lip for a moment as she thought. "I mean, I was up studying all night. You wanted someone to _sleep_ with. It was kind of nice that Donnie was able to fulfill that need for you. You were taken care of, right?"

Casey nodded with a small smile in Donnie's direction.

Donnie straightened in his seat. "You know, Casey said something similar when he first approached me. We've placed ourselves in a unique situation where we're lucky to have two people to lean on."

"Doesn't answer how ya feel about me and Don cuddling it up without ya, though, Red," Casey said.

Donnie rolled his eyes at the hockey player, although he secretly admired Casey's bluntness.

"Well, there's no rush, right?" April asked, not put off by Casey's direct question.

"Of course not," Donnie said, although he tried not to smile as he caught Casey sigh dramatically next to him. "And nothing happened that you haven't already seen."

"Well, I'm still kind of sorry I missed it," April said, "cause I've liked what I've seen so far."

"Really?" Casey asked, wagging his eyebrows over at her.

Donnie was suddenly too distracted to notice, though, as he caught the way April's eyes had hooded as they roamed over the two males. He suddenly had an urge to start touching, and leaned forward in his seat to move his hands towards both of them.

He was stopped by a loud alarm coming from his computer.


	4. Chapter 4

Raph could feel himself cooling off as he headed home, mainly because he was refusing to let any of the things he or Leo had just said repeat in his head. He'd thought about calling Casey to see if he wanted to hang out, but something stopped him from doing that as well. He wasn't asking for details from his friend, mainly because those details would involve Raphael's nerdy brother, but Casey had been happier over the last several days than Raph had ever seen him. He didn't begrudge the happiness. He just didn't feel like being around it.

Speaking of happy, he reached the lair's turnstiles and suddenly spotted Mikey headed towards him from the opposite direction. He stopped outside the main entrance of their home and waited for the other turtle, while noting Mikey's goofy grin. Mikey always looked happy, but this was a face-splitting smile, practically skipping kind of happy, and Raph had no doubt about who Mikey had spent his evening with.

Raphael grumbled at the prospect of having two happy relationships constantly in his face. Everyone else was managing happiness and all he was managing was frustration, bitter words, and a nagging fear that his relationship was doomed. Maybe Leo thought so too. Maybe that was why he didn't want to tell sensei about them.

"Hey Raph," Mikey said, bouncing up to him and interrupting whatever thoughts had his brother glaring at the ground. Raphael met his eyes, which felt like a small victory of sorts to Mikey, but didn't say anything back. "Feel like a game?"

Raph debated. He wasn't sure how long Leo was going to take to come home and he wasn't sure he wanted to be openly sitting in the pit when Leo arrived.

"N-never mind," Mike said, side-stepping to enter their home ahead of Raphael.

The quick stuttering had Raph refocusing on Mikey and he realized what his thoughtful pause had meant to Mikey. He grabbed his little brother's shell and wrapped his arm around Mikey's neck, nearly strangling him as he dragged him over to the pit.

Mikey sputtered but smiled when he was released and quickly moved to set up a game. He tossed a controller to Raphael and plopped down next to him. They played in silence, which was fine with Mikey, especially since Raph was not only playing with him, but was also elbowing him from time to time in an effort to cheat.

After a few rounds, Mikey glanced towards the dojo where he assumed their father was. He knew Splinter had super hearing, but decided to risk it anyway. He said in a low tone, "Woody's the bomb at this game. He knows this trick where you press four of the buttons at once and it skips you over that wall without making you go through the whole course."

"That so?"

"Yeah, I can never do it right. He's tried to teach me. He's cool like that. But, uh, you may need 10 fingers to do it, which could be why it doesn't work for me. But -,"

"Mike," Raph said, cutting off Mikey's fast-paced rambling. He paused their game and turned towards his little brother. "Ya don't gotta sell Woody to me." He watched Mikey fiddle with his controller while only glancing at Raph from the corner of his eye.

"So its not that he's a human?"

Raphael shook his head.

"That he was a surprise?" Mikey asked, going with his second guess for why everyone else was angry.

"That probably wasn't yer smartest move, shellhead," Raph said, "although, we all had plenty of surprises going around that day."

Mikey pulled his mask down so it hung around his neck and turned to face Raphael. "What then? Help a turtle out!"

Raph took another deep breathe through his nose again and decided to ask about the scent that had hit him as soon as Mikey was close to him earlier. "Yer covered in a combination of pizza smell and Woody's scent. If you've been with him a year, why haven't I noticed that extra smell before?"

Mikey leaned back, as if a few inches of distance would stop his brother's ability to pick up Woody's scent, and immediately flushed before finally saying, "Uh, didja know that Mr. Murakami lives in an apartment above his shop?"

Raph frowned and shook his head.

"Yeah, and uh, I'd move some boxes around for him, and he, uh, wouldn't mind if I used his shower before I came home."

Raph thought about that for a minute before saying, "Ya never smelled like different soap."

"I may have brought some of our extra soap to Murakami's."

"Sneaky, Mike."

Mikey's eyes widened as realization finally hit him. "But, ya'd think the _ultimate ninja_ would appreciate my super secrecy skills."

Raphael shook his own head at Mikey's remark involving Leo and turned back to the game. "Not when it involves a team member. Not when it involves his baby brother."

Raph restarted the game and they didn't say much more except to razz on each other on through the next several courses. Michelangelo actually quit before Raph and decided to actually tell Raph it was because he wanted to talk to Woody before bed.

Raphael watched him go and pulled his own T-phone out to check the time. It had been at least two hours since he'd left Leo and the other turtle still hadn't arrived home. He pulled up Leo's number and stared at the screen. His earlier thoughts that he'd rather be hidden away when Leo walked in disappeared as he suddenly had a strong urge to see him.

He realized his talk with Mikey seemed to have lifted his earlier dark mood. Maybe it was knowing that he'd help Mike see the problem they'd all been having, which would hopefully lead the youngest to begin making amends. And if Mikey did that, it would be one problem off all their shoulders. A little less tension in the lair might be good for everyone.

He began to think about some of the other things he and Leo had _discussed_ earlier and it suddenly hit him that even though he hadn't agreed with everything Leo had said, Leo had been opening up to him tonight without Raph having to prod, poke, and pull those thoughts from his stubborn head like normal. He wished he'd realized at the time what was happening, because maybe he would've tried harder to keep his anger in check, even if Leo was getting defensive, although Leo probably had every right to be defensive. He had thrown a lot at Leo tonight. And yes, some of those things needed to be said, but Raph's lips lifted in a smirk when he realized that if he and Leo were gonna be together, he was gonna have to work on his own delivery technique, just like Fearless was gonna have to work on not twisting his words around.

He thought of the other technique he'd used on Leo earlier as well, which brought up the memory of finally being free to let his fingers grab hold of the rear end that had been teasing him for the past few years. Of how nice Leo's fingers felt wrapped around his biceps. Of how Leo's blue eyes had darkened with want. And of the sounds that came out of his favorite turtle. He was suddenly desperate to hurry Leo home so he could get his hands on him again. He stood from his seat and punched the button that would speed dial Leo. He paced a few steps in the pit as the phone rang. And rang.

"Raph!"

He was jerked from his thoughts when a frantic Casey came running out of Donnie's lab. He hadn't even known Casey was here. He lifted his eye ridges in question as he continued to listen to the phone ring.

"Get in here!" Casey said and turned back to the lab without another word.

Raph hung up on his end and quickly followed Casey into Donnie's lab. Donnie sat at his computer with an equally worried April leaning over his shoulder. His brother only glanced up at him before his attention returned to the screen while he continued to quickly type.

"Leo and Karai are in trouble," Donnie said, quickly getting to the point.

"What?" Raph said in a tone only slightly lower than a roar. Since Leo and Karai were clearly not in this room, he pushed past Casey to look at Donnie's screen. His breath caught as he was suddenly staring at Leo and Karai trapped in a small room that was quickly filling with water.


	5. Chapter 5

Leo stood frozen in the tunnel and stared at the spot where Raph had been standing only a few moments ago. When it was clear Raph wasn't coming back, he turned and headed for the nearest manhole cover. Moments later he was up out of the sewer and running across the rooftops, eager to put as much space between himself and that last heart-wrenching moment with Raphael.

He ran until he spotted a familiar silhouette sitting on a rooftop ledge. In the actual last place he thought he'd ever find her. He jumped to the rooftop where she sat and silently padded over to her before taking a seat as well.

Karai turned her head and eyed him. "You follow me out here?"

"No, but what are you doing out here alone?"

"Do I need permission to leave? Am I out past curfew?"

Leo frowned at her tone. "No, but it would be better if we knew where you were."

"Why?"

"Because that's how this family works," Leo said.

Karai sighed dramatically. "Sorry, Fearless."

Leo swallowed as Raphael's face immediately came to mind. Raph was right, that nickname was meant to come only from Raph's lips.

"Don't, uh, don't call me that."

"Why not?" Karai asked, pulling a leg up in front of her so she could rest her chin on her knee. "You going to try to tell me you're actually full of fear?"

"I have plenty of fears," Leo said, pausing to take a deep breath before continuing, "but I don't want you to call me that because it's Raph's nickname for me." He peered at Karai out of the corner of his eye and watched her turn and look at him.

"It's not a family nickname?"

"No."

"It's a _special_ nickname?"

"Yes."

Karai paused. "Like how Donatello calls April his sweet chinchilla?"

Leo made a face and Karai released an actual laugh.

"Stop laughing."

"I'm not laughing," Karai said, although still outright laughing. She took a deep breath, feeling slightly better than she had a few minutes before. "I'm just slightly _amused_ given the interactions I've witnessed between the two of you."

"Amused?"

Karai smirked. "You push each other's buttons. But, if that's what you like, then you're made for each other."

"We don't always push each other's buttons."

"Hey, I'm fine with you two together as long as I don't have to hear the sordid details," she said with another laugh.

"Well you can stop being _amused_ ," Leo said dryly, although he was pleased with her reaction. "It doesn't matter anyway. It looks like it's already over."

"Why?"

"I screwed up with him."

"You mean to tell me you're not perfect?" She threw in a fake gasp just for fun, which earned her a dirty look from Leo. "So? Isn't that when a good ol' fashioned apology -,"

"And then he said he didn't want to be with me and left."

Karai raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"You did something _stupid_ and the _hothead_ turtle said something in anger and stormed off? Well that's unpredictable."

"Have you always been this sarcastic?"

"Doesn't that happen all the time?" she continued. "What do you normally do in these situations?"

"This is different, Karai. This isn't us arguing over the best plan of action against an enemy."

Karai stared back across the street. "Yeah, well, the Leonardo I know is not a quitter."

"It's not just up to me, though," he said slowly.

"You still have to do your part. And anyway, I highly doubt he meant what he said. And I'm pretty sure that once your head clears you'll realize you know him well enough to doubt what he said too." She paused to let that sink in before turning to look at him. She cleared her throat and fidgeted with the sword handle at her hip. "Listen, Leo, I'm glad I got a moment alone with you. And if you could quit gabbin about your love life for a second – ," she watched him turn back towards her and scowl again, "- well, you know I'm not very good at saying thank you, but I do want to say it. I'm glad that the Shredder is de- _gone_ , and I'm glad you got me out and back with my real father."

"You're welcome," he said, slowly, doing his best not to relive the moment he'd beheaded the evil man. He glanced back at the building across the street. "So, if you're happy to be out, what are you doing up here staring at the Foot headquarters?"

Her eyes moved back to her former home. "There are a few pictures of my mother in there. And I'd like to have them."

Leo's blue eyes refocused on the building and Karai watched with interest as Leo's _mission mode setting_ was seemingly switched on.

"Have you seen any activity?"

"I'm not asking for help-,"

"Activity?"

She sighed. "No."

"Then lets move," Leo said, heading to the rooftop edge so he could use the fire escape to quickly make his way to the ground.

She rolled her eyes but followed him. However, when they reached the ground, she got his attention and lead the way to a secret side entrance. Once inside, they moved silently down a dark hallway.

"It's so cold in here," Leo said in a low voice.

"The entire building is metal on top of more metal," Karai answered back. "Not a lot of heat."

"Well then I guess you must be plenty comfortable in the lair."

Karai huffed out a breath. On her next step she nearly fell, but didn't hit the ground only because Leo had managed to grab her by the arm and keep her upright. Karai stared down at the ground, confused as to what she could've tripped on in an empty hallway.

"Uh oh," she whispered when she spotted the wire that had made her stumble.

"What does that mean?" Leo asked as a high-pitched sound filled the corridor. There was a flash and a loud popping noise near the ceiling.

"Run!" Karai said, taking off down the hallway.

"What is that?" Leo said, moving quickly behind her.

"That's just a distraction," Karai said, looking back at Leo to make sure he was sticking with her. "Leo!" she yelled as a large device lowered from the ceiling with swords spinning. "Leo!" she yelled again as a sword headed towards Leo's neck and he fell backwards on his shell. She ducked down to check on him and watched as his uninjured head popped back out of his shell. She breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly moved towards her and away from the spinning machine.

"It creeps me out when you guys do that."

"You know what would creep you out more?"

"You without a head?"

"Me without a head," Leo replied dryly as they watched the machine grind itself into a mess of twisted swords and machinery when it tried to drive through the metal floor. Sparks flew until the machine finally shorted out and stopped, leaving them in silence once again. "Now, what _was_ that?"

"Looks like Stockman added some devices that were set to go off if triggered by intruders -,"

"He set up booby traps? Are there more?"

Karai shrugged. "These _updates_ must've been added after I was locked in the basement."

"Let's just be more careful," Leo said. "Where's your room?"

Karai tilted her head and began walking. She watched Leo's eyes flip to white as he took the lead again. She was about to protest when she realized he had a better chance of seeing future triggers in the dark.

"Next door on the right," she said quietly a few minutes later. "It's a stairwell."

Leo nodded, although he stopped at the door to examine it before opening it. He suddenly wished Donnie was there, since he was certain Donnie would know what best to look for. He didn't see any wires or devices attached to the door. He slowly wrapped his hand around the knob and turned.

"We're going to be here all night, Leo," Karai muttered as she watched him _slowly_ open the door.

Leo ignored her, and when the door opened without issue, he started up the stairs. One flight later and Karai was directing them down another hallway.

"Watch it!" Leo yelled as spiked metal balls he quickly recognized as Stockman's handiwork flew towards them.

She threw her back towards his shell as their swords were pulled to defend themselves. Karai swung and hit one of the spiked weapons, sending it across the room where it flew into the wall. And immediately exploded. The two of them were blown back into a small, empty room.

"That's a new feature," Leo muttered as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Next time we see him I'll let you compliment him before I kill him," Karai growled as she sat up as well.

Leo moved to stand, but froze when the only opening in the room was quickly blocked by a metal panel slamming shut, trapping them in the small space.

"Karai, what is this room?" Leo asked uneasily. He looked to her and his eyes widened as he caught an actual flash of fear on her face.

"Shredder had a few rooms like this installed in random places around the building."

"And?" Leo prompted when she stopped talking.

Karai's eyes lifted upwards. "We're not mean to leave here alive," she said quietly as the cold water began to fall from the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Three chapters in a 24 hour period isn't too many, amright?


	6. Chapter 6

Raphael growled as he watched Leonardo use a sword handle to beat against one of the walls as water filled the room. The water had reached Leo's knees and Raph could see both him and Karai visibly shivering despite the grainy black and white footage. Raph knew Fearless couldn't handle cold temperatures in the best of circumstances, and he watched now as Leo's strikes became sloppy as the cold began to slow his muscles. If something didn't change, they were either going to drown or freeze to death.

"Where the fuck are they, Donnie?"

Donnie continued to type as he spoke, "Well, I thought we should keep an eye on Foot headquarters in case any of Shredders' henchmen returned, so I sent a bunch of spy roaches in there to keep surveillance." He looked up from his screen just in time to see Raph's shell as Raph sprinted out of the lab. "Raph, wait!" he called out, but could only groan as he realized Raph wasn't going to listen. "He doesn't know about the traps, or what I'm trying to do here."

"I got him," Casey said, rushing towards the door.

"Jones," Donnie said sharply. He met Casey's eyes from the lab doorway and tossed him an earpiece. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful, Don," Casey said with a wink for both Donnie and April before he disappeared through the door.

April sighed and leaned over Donnie as his fingers flew over the keyboard once more. "You can do this, Donnie," she said. "I know you can."

Donnie appreciated her confidence, but didn't say anything in return. He did his best to double his efforts and continue to work his way through the code he'd found. He needed the one that controlled the doors in that damn building.

April redialed Leo's number and tried for the fourth time since the alarm had sounded to call him. She began pacing behind Donnie as the phone rang and rang.

"I can see that his phone isn't in the water yet," April said. "Why isn't he answering it?"

"It would work even if it was in the water," Donnie said absent-mindedly. He'd made their phones nearly indestructible. "He'd answer it if it rang. There must be something about that building preventing service."

He glanced over at the live feed he had of Leo and Karai. One spy roach had unfortunately gotten itself trapped in the room with them, good for them to keep an eye on their family, bad for the roach, although it had the lucky capability to sit high on one of the walls. He made a mental note to add some sort of communication system to his spy roach cameras.

* * *

He'd tried to call for help, but there was absolutely no service and Karai only shook her head at him when he looked to her for an explanation.

He couldn't stop the shivering. His feet were painfully numb. And every inch the water rose was a slow cold torture as it touched new bare skin.

And, not only had he not even made a dent in the metal door with the hilt of his katana, but the constant arm movements weren't remotely keeping him warm. He glanced over at Karai and watched her shiver as well.

"G-get on my sh-shell."

"What?" she said, jerking her head in his direction. "I'm w-warm-blooded at least. Y-you get on my b-back."

Leo made a disgruntled noise. "You c-can't hold my w-weight. I c-can at least k-keep you out of the w-water for a little w-while."

Karai looked to the ceiling again. They were able to stand out of the falling water's direct path, but it was coming down quickly. "It w-won't m-matter for m-much l-longer, L-leo."

"Y-yeah, w-well, I'm a t-turtle. I'm m-made for w-water," he paused as he watched the water creep towards their waists. "And I c-can hold my breath l-longer than you."

Karai's eyes flashed with fear again as she realized why that would be important. He jerked his head back towards his shell and she made her way over to him.

* * *

Raph had made a quick stop in the dojo for gear and when he returned to the main room, Casey was already geared up and waiting for him. They took off without a word, although Casey had to employ his skates in order to keep up with the sprinting turtle.

They were topside when Casey was finally able to toss Raph the earpiece and warn him about the possible booby traps. Raphael inserted the ear piece and let his eyes flip to white as he cursed Stockman for slowing them down.

"Where to, Don?"

Donnie's voice was immediate in his ear. "West stairwell. Second floor."

Raphael moved quickly, only partially noting that Casey was sticking behind him and walking only where he had first stepped. They made it to the second floor without incident, although the metal balls of doom zoomed towards them as soon as they stepped into the hallway.

"I'm on it, Raph," Casey said, pulling a hockey stick and shouting out a _goongala_ that even Donnie could hear through Raph's ear piece device as he began whacking the flying weapons away from the two of them.

"Donnie?" Raph asked and no further words were needed as Donnie understood what Raph was asking.

"Go for it, Raph," Donnie replied. "They're uh, they're several feet off the ground."

* * *

They were floating. Well, Leo was floating, although how he managed to stay afloat with her kneeling on his plastron, Karai didn't know. She was mostly out of the water, but her cold wet clothes clung to her, and she was still violently shivering. They were still steadily rising towards the ceiling, and when they reached it, not even Leonardo was going to be able to save her.

"S-stay aw-wake, L-leo," Karai said. The crown of her head bumped against the ceiling and she ducked down. She'd said his name every few moments and up until now, his eyes would snap open when she spoke. This time they didn't. He'd stopped talking almost ten minutes ago and he'd stopped shivering except for a violent shudder every few moments. Karai was pretty sure the lack of shivering was pretty bad news at this point.

"L-leo," she called out louder than before. "R-raph would k-kick your ass if he was h-here and saw you g-going to sleep."

 _Raph_ , Leo thought to himself, S _orry Raph_.

He'd thought about slowing his system down to protect himself from hypothermia, but if he did that, he'd also lose his balance, which meant he could tip off his shell, which would not only dump Karai into the water, but drown himself.

He tried to focus, but Karai's voice was beginning to get further and further away. So he went back to the last time he'd been cold, out at the farmhouse, and let himself drift into the memory of Raph wrapped around him, keeping him warm with heated limbs and face nuzzles.

"D-did you h-hear that?" Karai asked, although she still got no response from Leo. "It s-sounded like that s-stupid w-word C-casey says."

She didn't want to tip them over, but chanced shifting her weight forward so she could hit the heel of her hand against the side of Leo's face. Still no reaction.

"C-come on guys," she whispered and stared at the door again. She'd seen the turtles save each other over and over again through the years. They'd even stepped in and saved her. And as self-sufficient as she liked to be, she knew she'd come to rely on them. She hoped she wasn't imagining noises on the other side of that door. She hoped they were here to save them. She couldn't bear it if it Leo was taken away from them while doing something to help her.

She strained her ears over the noise of the falling water. She was certain now that she could hear yelling on the other side of the door. And – and it looked like there was something bright orange visible through the dark water near the bottom of the door.

The bright orange color only grew and in the next moment, Karai swore the water level was beginning to fall.

"F-fire," Karai said as she finally realized what she was looking at. The door was being melted from the other side, creating a hole. "F-fire, Leo. Y-you know w-what that means, right? W-who's here?"

She dipped a finger into the water when she still got no reaction from Leo. It was still freezing, unfortunately. Fire or not, there was too much water to have raised the temperature for them.

The hole grew and the water level began to fall more quickly. Then she gasped as the door itself finally flew up. With the bottom mangled by Raph's blow torch, it didn't go all the way back into the ceiling, but it didn't matter. It was open. The two of them flew out of the room as the water poured through the opening, and Karai did her best not to whimper as her entire body was submerged in the freezing water as the sudden movement caused her to slip off Leo's plastron.

A moment later she and Leo were left on the floor of the hallway and she lay sputtering out the freezing water for only a moment before she sat up and turned to where Leo had landed.

While Raph's torch blowers had been making an impressive hole, and he'd cursed the moment the freezing cold water had wrapped itself around his ankles once it had begun to escape, it was at least manageable in a way that allowed him to stay right by the door. But when Donnie had finally managed to get the door up, both he and Casey had had to jump back as the giant wave of water came crashing out.

He cursed again as he watched Leo and Karai fly out the room and land roughly on the ground. He hadn't been able to catch them, but he was kneeling in the cold water in the next instant, pulling Leo into his lap, leaving Casey to check on Karai.

"Raph?" Donnie asked through the ear piece. The roach was in the same spot, giving him a view now of just an empty room.

Raph ignored him as he shook Leo while calling his name a few times. He pressed his face to Leo's and had a short moment of relief when he felt Leo's breath against his cheek.

"Donnie," Raph finally answered, his voice suddenly rough and desperate. Somehow Raph had been better while he'd been melting the door away. He'd managed to hold himself together while working, even though Leo had been in danger. But now, staring down at Leo, his voice cracked as he began speaking to Donnie again. "He's breathin, but he's ice cold. His color's off. And he's not fuckin awake."

"Get up. Move out of there _carefully_ ," Donnie said, trying to gently remind Raph of the possibility of future traps, "and bring them home. We'll be ready."


	7. Chapter 7

At first, he thought maybe his light meditation technique, which included envisioning Raph's warm body wrapped around him, was working fairly well. But a few moments later, his senses began to return, and he realized he was feeling warmth in certain areas because someone was carrying him. Carrying him rather quickly he surmised at the amount of jostling he was experiencing.

He breathed in and huffed out Raphael's name when the emerald turtle's scent filled his nose.

Raphael stopped in his tracks. He was carrying Leo on his shell and he wasn't at all certain that he hadn't just imagined Leo breathing his name out against the back of his neck. Finally, Leo said it again and Raph took two big steps backwards in order to press Leo's own shell against the sewer wall. Then turned quickly to catch him since he knew Leo wouldn't be able to stand up on his own two feet.

" _Jackass_ ," Raphael growled before quickly covering Leo's mouth with his own.

Leo's brain had been trying to fuzzily remember what had happened, but all thoughts disappeared when Raph pressed his body and his mouth up against him. He was frustrated when his arms wouldn't cooperate and follow his brain's command to reach up and grab hold of Raph's arms, but contented himself with the fact that his lips were moving enough to satisfy the both of them.

Raph pulled his mouth away so that he could rest his forehead against Leo's for a moment. Leo was breathing hard and was still alarmingly cold. As much as Raph wanted some more time alone with him, he knew he'd better keep moving quickly to get the frozen turtle back to Dr. Donnie. He didn't say anything further as he turned, easily pulled Leo back up on his shell, and continued his sprint towards the lair.

Leo didn't say anything either. Instead, he did his best to ignore how painfully numb his legs were and let himself nuzzle his face into the side of Raph's warm neck as Raph ran.

Raph sped up as the lair's entrance came into view and he spotted Mikey nervously pacing by the turnstiles.

"They're here, D!" Mikey called out as he raced into the lab.

Raph quickly followed and let Donnie and Mikey pull Leo gently off his shell and place him on the cot Donnie had set up. Master Splinter and April were standing by and quickly covered Leo with heated blankets, while Mikey adjusted the heat lamps they'd already placed around the cot. Raph also noted that it looked like every single space heater they owned had been pulled into the lab and were currently raising the room temperature.

Donnie was pleased to see Leo's eyes open, even if Leo's confused expression had Donnie worried about his mental status. He pulled Leo's mask off his face and then made a disgruntled noise as he ran a thermometer across Leo's forehead. When he was finished, Mikey quickly moved in and covered Leo's head in one of their warm winter hats.

"Hold still, Leo," Donnie said as he pulled one of Leo's arms out from under the blanket. He quickly stripped Leo's arm of its gear and then set to work inserting an IV with the saline they'd heated.

Leo thought about telling Donnie that he didn't have any control over his frozen limbs anyway, but didn't want to worry his clearly stressed family any further. So instead he kept his eyes locked on Raphael. Raph looked like hell, and was currently busying himself with reaching under Leo's blanket to pull his soaking wet, frozen gear off the rest of his limbs. Every once in a while he'd glance up and meet Leo's eyes, before quickly going back to his task.

Donnie had the IV inserted before finally looking around the room for his other patient.

"Where's Casey and Karai?"

The frantic note in Donnie's voice had Leo's eyes moving away from Raph and over to Don's worried face.

"They're comin," Raph grunted. With all of Leo's gear off, he pulled a stool up on the other side of the cot and found Leo's hands under the blanket with his own. "I made sure they made it out of the building before I took off. Casey couldn't keep up while helping Karai move and she refused to be carried." He turned then to their father who had moved to stand next to him. "I'm sorry I didn't wait for them, sensei."

Master Splinter rested a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "You did the right thing, Raphael. Leonardo's condition warranted you returning here as quickly as possible."

Raphael looked back to Leo then and found that Leo's eyes were once again closed. He squeezed Leo's fingers hard and watched as Leo's eyes slowly reopened and locked onto his.

"Stay awake," Raph growled softly to him, doing his best to keep his voice from carrying to the others in the room.

They sat staring at each other while the others began to debate on whether they should run out to the tunnels on foot or in a vehicle to try to find Casey and Karai and bring them home faster. Mikey and April were about to leave when Casey finally skated into the room with Karai doing her best to hang onto his back using her stiff limbs, a compromise they had made when walking was proving to be tortuously slow-going.

Master Splinter felt another wave of relief as he watched April usher Karai behind a curtain set up in the room. Once back there, April quickly began pulling Karai's wet clothes off of her. Karai thought about arguing about the help, but she knew the redhead well enough by now to know how stubborn she was, so she'd probably just get an eye roll and a lecture about not letting Casey carry her sooner. Plus, April was bribing her with warm, cotton sweats to change into. So she did her best to look only slightly disgruntled as the other girl first undressed and then redressed her before moving her again to be set up on her own cot near Leo and the space heaters.

Karai examined Leo closely, as April stuffed her feet into warm, fuzzy socks. Leo still appeared to be a funny color, which was a strange thought because who would've thought she'd ever have their distinctive green colors memorized, but at least he was awake now.

In the next moment her father was there, covering her in heated blankets, before he checked her temperature.

"Your temperature is slightly low, but not as low as we had feared," Master Splinter murmured.

"I wasn't in the water that long," Karai said, slowly. "Leo managed to keep me out of it"

"We know," Master Splinter said, placing a winter hat over her head as well. "Donatello had surveillance in the building. It was how we knew you were in danger. What were you doing in there?"

"Oh, Karai, here," Casey said, digging into his hockey bag. He pulled out the photo album she'd insisted they fetch before they left.

Karai offered him a real smile as she took the book from him. Then she turned to his father. "I wanted this," she said, turning the book over to him.

He sat down on the edge of her cot and slowly opened the album she and Leo had risked their lives for. His eyes immediately moved over pictures of Tang Shen. Pictures he hadn't seen in years.

Mikey moved in close and looked over his shoulder. They'd seen Tang Shen in the formal family photo Master Splinter had in the dojo, but these pictures were completely different. These photos showed Tang Shen with her hair down, swinging on a swing, laughing at the camera.

"She's like, totally young there," Mikey said in awe.

Master Splinter only nodded.

"There really wasn't anything else I wanted in that tower, but I couldn't bear the thought of these photos being lost," Karai said, watching her father's face. His expression was stoic and she was having a hard time deciding if he was pleased to see the pictures or not.

"Hold still, you're bleeding," Donnie suddenly said, pressing gauze against Casey's neck. "What happened?"

Donnie's frantic voice once again pulled Leo's attention to him and he looked across the room in time to watch Donnie force Casey down into a chair. He took in Donnie's wide, worried eyes as they examined Casey's bleeding neck.

"One of those razor-covered balls of doom," Casey said, nonchalantly, doing his best to play off the injury, at least until he got a look at Donnie's face.

Leo watched Casey reach up and grab hold of one of Donnie's busy hands, forcing Donnie to meet his eyes.

"Couple stitches from you and maybe some of that special Dr. D beside manner later," Casey said, softly with a wink. "I'm gonna be fine."

Leo suddenly felt like he was watching something private between the two, but couldn't pull his eyes away as he watched Donnie visibly relax under Casey's soft, reassuring words.

"And hey, maybe I'll get a gnarly scar out of the deal," Casey called out as Donnie moved away to collect what he'd need to stitch him up.

Leo turned back to Raphael and found Raph's green eyes still watching him closely.

"I'm sorry," he whispered out to Raphael and watched as Raph quickly shook his head and squeezed his fingers again.


	8. Chapter 8

When Leo's body temperature finally began to rise and Karai was clearly recovered and resting comfortably, Master Splinter took the album Karai had retrieved and silently went to his room. Mikey waited until he saw Leo's eyes finally close for sleep before he squeezed Leo's shoulder and went to bed yawning.

Donnie heated a new bag of saline and hooked it to Leo's IV before trodding off for sleep as well. After their rough night, he wanted April and Casey to stay close and neither of them argued. As much as he'd like to carry them both off to his room, not only would they not all fit on his bed, but he knew it would appear rather odd to his father. So they settled together on the couch in the pit, okay with sleeping upright, as long as they could feel each other's shoulders pressed against their own.

Raphael stayed with Leo as the others gradually left. All except Karai, who wrapped a blanket around herself and moved to sit in a stool next to Raphael.

"Shredder's gone. Still managed to almost kill us."

"Bastard," Raph muttered.

"Leo's ridiculous," Karai murmured, staring at Leo's sleeping face. "A ridiculous, self-sacrificing jerk."

Raph rested his forehead against Leo's blanketed plastron and almost laughed. "Ya have no idea, sister."

"I'm really sorry, Raphael," Karai said, softly. There was a combination of words she never thought would ever come out of her mouth. The way he suddenly looked at her from the corner of his eye pretty much confirmed that was his thought as well. "It's my fault he was in there."

Raphael shook off her apology the way he'd shaken off Leo's earlier. "He wouldn't want ya apologizin."

"Self-sacrificing jerk," Karai said with a small smile. She paused and eyed Raph before saying, "He asked me not to call him Fearless anymore."

Raph lifted his head at that and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Said it was a nickname he only wanted to hear from _you_."

She watched Raphael's face as he tried to decide how to react to what she said. She left him to squirm for a few more moments before smiling at him, reassuring him that she understood exactly what was happening between the two turtles.

"Although," she said, looking back to Leo's face, "he was pretty upset when he ran into me earlier. But I assured him you likely were just being pissy and didn't mean whatever you had said."

Raph grunted at her word choice while squeezing Leo's fingers tighter.

"Don't make me regret giving him hope," Karai said.

Raph turned and stared at her for another moment. Was Karai trying to help his and Leo's relationship? Wait, was Karai _threatening_ him?

"Of course, I'll say the same thing to him for you," Karai said, rising from her seat before Raph could get _pissy_ and open his mouth. She patted his shell, wrapped her blanket tighter around herself and moved to exit the lab, flicking the lights off as she left.

Raph's eyes returned to Leo's sleeping face. He brushed Karai's threat aside, even feeling slightly warmed by it as it was clear she was accepting of the two of them together. Instead he focused on the fact that he'd told Leo he didn't like Karai calling him Fearless, and Leo had almost immediately asked Karai to not use the nickname. Even after Raph had said what he'd said about not wanting to be with him, Leo had still spilled their secret to Karai.

Now that they were alone, he leaned forward and nuzzled his face against Leo's face. Leo shifted on the cot and breathed out Raphael's name. Raphael smiled and watched as those blue eyes opened and met his.

"How are ya feeling?"

Leo smiled when he saw Raph there smiling at him, before he looked around the dark, quiet lab. "Is everybody okay?" he asked, his voice hoarse from the cold.

"Yeah, Fearless. Everyone else is just peachy compared to ya."

"Want to talk to you," Leo said through a yawn.

"Tomorrow," Raph whispered, letting one of his hands travel up Leo's arm to his shoulder and back down again.

Leo hummed in pleasure. "Warm, Raphie," he murmured as his eyes shut again. "Come keep me warm."

'I'm not fittin on this thing with ya." He watched as Leo's eyes snapped open and he was suddenly staring back at Leo's infamous fierce glare. "That don't work on me," he said dryly. He gruffed out a sigh when Leo didn't let up. "Ya want Master Splinter to find us cuddled up in here?"

Leo answered by forcing his stiff body over a few inches to allow some room for Raphael.

Raph narrowed his eyes at him, but stood, lifted Leo's blanket, causing Leo to shiver, and then shifted himself on the cot. He wrapped his arms around Leo, threw a leg over his legs and then ducked his face to nuzzle Leo's face.

Leo hummed happily again as Raph's solid warmth covered him.

"Should've done this in the first place," Leo murmured as he let himself fall back to sleep.

* * *

There was a knock before his door slowly slid open and his daughter stood peering in at him, wrapped up in a blanket. He beckoned her in and she walked silently over to his side before sitting beside him. He lifted the photo album out of his lap and handed it over to her.

Karai opened the album to the first couple pages and looked down at the familiar pictures.

"You've seen this album before?" she asked.

Master Splinter nodded. "Yes. Your mother and I filled it together. Although, there are a few pictures missing."

"Let me guess, pictures that you were in?"

"He must've gone to our house after her death and taken the album," Master Splinter said. "I never noticed it was missing, although I didn't take much with me when I left."

Karai looked down at her favorite photo of her mother. She was smiling directly at the camera, the sun was behind her, and the wind was blowing wisps of hair around her face. She traced her finger around her mother's face. She turned and looked at her father and found him staring at the same photo. She was still learning about Hamato Yoshi, and wasn't sure how open he was to questions.

"I always wanted to know more about this day," she said slowly. "She looks so happy in these pictures."

An actual smiled appeared on her father's face and he nodded. "We wanted to get married," he said, "but her father did not approve of me."

Karai frowned. "But, you were from a prestigious family, weren't you? A famous dojo?"

He nodded again and ran his hand down the length of his beard. "Yes, prestigious if you were a fan of the ninja lifestyle, which he was not. He wanted Shen to marry a podiatrist he had chosen."

Karai made a face and he chuckled lightly.

"He had even begun organizing her wedding. However, I was determined to talk him out of the podiatrist. So I went to his shop one day to talk to him, but I didn't get the chance."

"Why?"

"Because when I got there, the shop next to him was being burglarized. I took care of the thieves, but when the fight was over, Shen's father was already gone."

Karai frowned. She knew how this tale ended, obviously, but never thought her parents' story would have begun with so much frustration. "Did you go back the next day?"

He shook his head. "I didn't need to. Shen called me to their home, where I was welcome for the first time, and her father held a dinner in my honor. Turns out the shop next to him belonged to his brother, and their family was suddenly in favor of ninjitsu," he said with a small smile and an eyebrow raise as he met Karai's eyes. "So I wasted no time in asking for Shen's hand, which he approved."

Karai smiled and looked back down at the photos. "So the photos taken on this day?"

"The two of us had a celebratory picnic the very next day."

She traced her finger around her mother's happy face once more, extremely pleased to finally have a backstory to go with the photos.

"Do you want to keep this album?"

He shook his head. "As long as you don't mind sharing it, I like that you have it."

"Thank you, Father," she said, with a smile that earned her a smile in return. She stood up to move towards the door. "I think I'm okay to leave the lab and go to bed in my own room tonight. Donnie moved a space heater in there. Leo looked pretty good when I left him. He's practically back to his own color again. Raph is still in there with him."

He nodded in return. "Goodnight my daughter."

Karai paused by the door thoughtfully and then said, "Love sounds pretty complicated. I can't imagine having to worry about needing someone else's approval."

Master Splinter hummed in agreement as she said goodnight and shut the door behind her. He let another smile cross his face as he thought about how well Karai was taking to being a sister. He looked to the picture of Tang Shen he kept in his room.

"You'd be quite proud of her and our boys," he murmured.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Small note – this story, and its predecessor, have so far been about exploring feelings and first kisses and small touches. So I'm just going to stick a little warning here that there's some full contact in the upcoming chapters (see what I did there?)
> 
> That is all.

April did her best to sleep upright on the couch, a mostly unsuspicious position for the three of them to rest, but after she was jerked awake a third time by her head rolling forward, she finally slid herself down and happily used one of Donnie's thighs as a pillow. She glanced back and saw that Casey, thanks to his height, had been able to shift his head to Don's shoulder where he was comfortably sleeping.

Donnie, meanwhile, was asleep with his head upright. It didn't look at all comfortable, but April figured Donnie had probably mastered sleeping in all kinds of weird positions between his late nights at his computer or taking shifts resting while out on stake-outs with his brothers.

She stared off at the opposite wall as images of their earlier night replayed in her head. The fear she'd felt that they might not be able to save Leo and Karai. The horror that came with having to watch them suffer. She thought of Donnie's fierce determination not to give up as his fingers flew over his keyboard and his eyes searched through endless code. He'd felt the same fear and horror, but he'd managed to work through it. She'd always been amazed by his ability to be so focused on a task and tonight was no exception.

And when Leo and Karai had been freed from that room, Donnie had switched right into doctor mode. Doing his best with the supplies he had to doctor not only Leo and Karai, but also Casey. She wasn't even sure the injury on Casey's neck had required stitches, but she'd smiled warmly anyway as she watched Donnie fuss over their hockey player. And at the small smile Casey had worn while he watched Donnie work.

After all that, Donnie had only requested that the two of them stay. After the horror and the worry. After the stress and the brainpower executed. All he wanted was for them to stay close. She wanted to do more for him. He was _theirs_ to take care of, after all.

She glanced back up at his sleeping face and breathed in his unique scent. She imagined it going up her nose and curling down into her lungs, giving her the ability to carry a part of him around with her. She turned her head slightly and her lips spread out in a smile. Her head was currently planted next to his lower plastron, much closer than she'd ever had reason to be before.

When they were teenagers, she'd once asked Leonardo about the turtle's _anatomy_. She figured Raph wouldn't answer, she didn't want to scandalize the baby brother, and she knew it would be much too embarrassing to ask Donnie since she knew how he felt about her. Plus, she was afraid he'd pull out graphs or charts or photos. So she'd settled on Leo.

Leo's face had actually turned a funny shade of purple at the question, but she'd been curious and continued to ask him in a direct way that seemed to calm him down. Although, in the end, all she got from him was a mumbled response about a hidden pouch accessed through cartilage on their lower plastron before he escaped from her and then avidly avoided her for the next two straight weeks.

She studied what she could see of Donnie's plastron in the darkened room. With his long range defensive weapon, Donnie had very few chips or divets in his shell and his plastron had been similarly protected. Her eyes narrowed in on the cartilage between the lowest plates, which seemed slightly thicker than anywhere else and she wondered if this was the area Leo had mentioned.

She was nervous, but not entirely sure why. Another glance at Donnie's face told her he was still asleep, as was Casey. And all she was doing was looking. So why was she nervous?

Heat pooled in her belly and she had her answer. Because she wanted to do more than look. She wanted to really _see_. She wanted to touch. She wanted to provide comfort to the one who'd spent the entire night making sure everyone else had been comforted.

Without further thought, she leaned her head slightly forward so that she could press her tongue into the cartilage. It was soft. Softer than she was expecting compared to the hard plates of his chest. She pressed her tongue further forward until she felt the cartilage shift in order to allow her tongue to slip between it. Her head jerked back at the realization that Leo had been telling the truth before a small grin appeared on her face. She pressed forward again, more insistently this time now that she knew what to expect and heard a soft sigh escape the turtle.

She continued to lick and press her tongue forward, although she knew her neck wasn't going to allow her to stay in this position for much longer. But she ignored the slight pain as a bulge began to form below the plastron. Her eyebrow quirked as she wondered about the discomfort that had to arise from the constraint of a hard plastron. Then she was distracted again as a soft purring noise rumbled from Donnie's chest. Another lick, another purring noise. The pattern continued until finally his _anatomy_ sprung forward and answered her question about just how much could be contained within the hidden pouch she'd found.

Donnie's eyes popped open and he jerked his head forward, not sure at first what had woken him. But the pleasant pressure at the bottom of his plastron drew his attention quickly, as did the sight of April's wide blue eyes, which appeared to be studying him.

"April," he rasped. "I didn't mean to-,"

"You didn't," she whispered quickly, moving her eyes up to his face so he could see her smile at him. "My tongue and I were exploring."

Casey's head lifted slowly from Donnie's shoulder as he heard the other two whispering. He stretched before looking at them and froze with his arms in the air when he saw Donnie out and exposed. He'd never seen any of the guys actually naked like this before and his eyes widened at the sheer size of the turtle. His eyes shifted to April as she moved herself off the couch and onto her knees on the floor in between Donnie's knees.

"You've been taking care of everyone all night. I thought maybe you could use some care as well."

Casey slowly lowered his arms as April's eyes met his. She was right, he realized. The brain had gone nonstop all night without taking any time for himself. Even Casey had goofed off a little to let off steam once he'd returned from the Foot building. His eyes moved to Donnie's face and took in the poor guy's slightly worried, unsure expression.

"D," he whispered, and waited for Donnie to turn his head toward him before he leaned forward and kissed him.

Donnie only hesitated a moment, still not sure if he was awake or not, before he responded to Casey's kiss. April's words reminded him of the events of that night and the tremor he'd felt earlier while watching Leo and Karai in that tiny room returned and began to move through his arms once again. The arm he'd had wrapped around Casey while he slept tightened while the fingers on his other hand dug into the couch cushion. He groaned at practically the same time Casey did as Casey's tongue pushed into his mouth.

Then his hips jerked forward as he felt fingers wrap around his hard length and squeeze. He pulled away from Casey's kiss to look down and found that it was Casey's fingers there. April had been watching their kiss and pressed her hands onto his legs now in order to lift herself up and meet his mouth as Casey's hand began sliding up and down.

He felt a churr rise up his throat and April pulled her mouth away at the sound.

"Does that sound mean what I think it means?"

Donnie stared back at her. He was already panting. His arms were shaking. Their kisses were incredible. And if Casey did that thing with his thumb over the tip of him one more time he was going to be finished real soon.

"If you think it means I think you're both incredible, then yes," Donnie said, his voice hoarse with want.

April smiled into their next kiss before she lowered herself back to her knees in front of him again. Casey let go of him and moved his hand to the side of Donnie's face, pulling him back towards him so he could take over kissing him again. It was just the distraction April needed to feel not as self-conscious as she leaned forward and slid her tongue up the length of him.

Donnie churred as his hips once again bucked forward. Casey moved his fingers to the back of Donnie's neck and kissed him harder, doing his best to swallow the sound. He wanted Donnie to just sink into this moment. April glanced up at them and was filled with a familiar warmth as she watched them kiss. She gripped the bottom of Donnie's length and covered the tip of him with her mouth. She'd never done anything like this before, but if that purring noise was any indicator, Donnie wasn't complaining. She let the fingers on her other hand rest on his thigh and tightened them every once in a while as she let her tongue work over him.

If he thought he was going to finish embarrassingly fast with just Casey's hand on him, it was nothing compared to the fight he could feel within himself not to come the instant April's tongue touched him. He was breathing hard through his nose as Casey kept his mouth busy and the churrs rose repeatedly up his throat. It was inevitable that he was going to finish quickly, he supposed, as her tongue swirled around the tip of him once more, leaving him gasping with a final hip jerk forward.

April pulled away quickly and rocked back on her heels, unprepared for what came next, but she kept her eyes on Donnie's face as Casey released his mouth and he was able to slump completely back into the couch cushion with a few more full body shudders and a look of complete relaxation.

Donnie panted out content sighs. The earlier stress tremors were gone. He felt weightless and _blissed out_ _happy_.

"That was – that was -," he tried to whisper out a coherent thought but was having difficulty. He heard Casey chuckle next to him before the hockey player settled back into his side. April laughed softly as well as she lifted herself up and silently walked towards the bathroom.

She returned a few moments later with a glass of water for herself and towel for Donnie, which he used to clean himself up before tucking himself away. He tossed the towel on the ground and April snuggled herself back into his side.

"Goodnight, Donnie," she whispered.

"Sleep?" Donnie asked. He was exhausted, and this new boneless feeling the two of them had created within him was certainly relaxing. But he wasn't sure how he felt about the two of them taking care of him without any reciprocation.

"Yeah," Casey answered in a whisper. "Ya took care of everyone earlier. We're happy to take care of you tonight. Right, Red?"

"Right, Jones," April whispered back with a smile. She reached across Donnie's lap to take hold of one of Casey's hands and leaned up to kiss Donnie's cheek. "Now go to sleep."

Donnie settled further into the couch and was asleep before his head even reached the cushion behind him.

* * *

Donnie startled awake the next morning when he could feel a pair of eyes on him.

"Donatello," Master Splinter said from where he stood in front of the couch, his hands perched together on the top of his walking stick. "Perhaps you and your friends would like to join me in your lab for a discussion?"


	10. Chapter 10

Raphael was startled awake the next morning by a loud sneeze, which was followed by another before he felt Leo try to press closer to him. He opened his eyes and let his hands slide up Leo's arms to his neck and then his forehead, checking the other turtle's temperature. Leo didn't feel cold anymore, but Raph's eyes narrowed when Leo opened his own eyes and looked up at him. The poor turtle looked miserable.

"Sorry I woke you," Leo said before frowning at how hoarse his voice sounded.

Raph heard it too, and moved his hand back to Leo's forehead. He didn't feel like he had a fever, but Raph didn't have to be the family doctor to see that Leo felt terrible.

"Yer head hurt?" he asked, taking in how glassy Leo's blue eyes appeared. He watched Leo hesitate before relenting and slowly nodding. "I'm gonna get Don."

Leo was already shaking his head before his hands tightened around Raph's arms. "It's early, Raph," he said. "If he's not already in here, then he's definitely still in bed. Let him sleep."

Raph moved to get off the cot anyway, "Yer sick, Leo -,"

"Besides, I don't want to be any trouble."

Raphael stilled as the words he'd thrown at Leo yesterday returned full force. How many times had those words repeated themselves in his head as he'd carried an unconscious Leo home last night?

"I didn't mean what I said," Raph said with a thick voice and immediately felt Leo's shifting movements pause beneath him. He sighed then and squeezed his arms tighter around Leo.

Leo chanced a look up at Raph's face and was met by a pretty intense expression from those green eyes.

"Karai was right," Raph said, "I was angry and said some shit I shouldn't have said."

Leo's brow furrowed in confusion. "Karai?"

Raph smiled at him. "Yeah, she also told me you asked her not to call ya Fearless anymore."

Leo nodded slowly. "I did. It led to telling her about us. I hope you don't mind."

"I'm not the one who wants to keep us a secret."

Leo heard what Raph was saying in his tone of voice alone, but didn't see the point in pursuing that topic if they weren't going to be together anyway. He hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Is there still going to be an us?"

Raphael narrowed his eyes at him. "Why else would I have stayed in here with ya all night? I've got a kink in my neck thanks to bein crammed into this tiny bed with ya."

Leo shifted slightly so that one of his hands could reach the back of Raphael's neck and he let his fingers begin a massage before he answered. "You're like a walking heater. And I was literally frozen. You could've stayed just because you're a good brother."

Raphael's eyes slid shut and he groaned as he felt Leo's fingers work over his tight neck muscles. Without thinking about it, he ducked his head and kissed Leonardo. Leo eagerly returned the kiss and Raph let himself stay there for a few moments before pulling away.

"Does that feel like just bein a good brother?"

Leo shook his head and used the fingers on Raph's neck to pull his face back down to him so he could kiss him again. This time Leo broke the kiss as he quickly pulled away and ducked his head towards his shoulder as he sneezed again.

"I hope I don't get you sick," Leo murmured.

"So yer admittin yer sick for once, huh?" Raph asked with a smirk. "Can I go get Dr. D now?"

Leo shook his head again. "This is his lab, Raph. You know he lives in here when he's awake. I'm sure he'll be here soon enough."

"All the more reason for me to get offa ya."

Leo shook his head again and nuzzled his face into Raph's neck. "So warm," he murmured.

Raph sighed, settled himself on the cot again, and smiled. He definitely had a hard time going up against a cuddly Leonardo, something he was going to wisely keep to himself so Leo wouldn't strategically use it against him in the future. The rest of the lair was still quiet and he thought Leo was going to go back to sleep, so he was surprised when Leo began speaking a few minutes later.

"I didn't mean to insinuate anything about Casey specifically."

Raph started in surprise for a moment before saying, "I know, Fearless."

"I just didn't want Donatello taken advantage of or hurt." Leo watched Raph's eyes narrow and quickly continued. "But, last night I saw Casey actually soothe Donatello when Donnie was fussing over him, and I saw it," he said, eyes intent on Raph's eyes, which were growing warmer by the second. "I saw the connection there. And I'm happy for Donnie."

Raph leaned forward and kissed Leo again. He felt Leo sigh against his lips and he let one of his hands wander down Leo's sides. "I think it's only natural that _you_ would worry," he murmured. He pulled back and eyed Leo, ready to tease him. "Yer sure yer not worried cause _three_ of them are gettin together?"

Leo shook his head at Raph's teasing voice and then gave a little shrug. "I'll admit I don't understand how that works, but I'm okay with not knowing. Would you want to juggle two others?"

"Weelll," Raph said. He lifted his eyes to the ceiling and pretended to think about it until he could _feel_ Leo's glare. He chuckled and pulled Leo in closer to him and kissed him again. "I'm guessin you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with two people either?"

Leo quickly shook his head. "I don't think I could equally feel about someone else the way I feel about you," he said and then watched Raphael face shift into a genuine smile. He ran a hand down the side of Raphael's handsome face. "Plus, I want all of your attention on me."

"I like the sound of that," Raph rumbled down to him before kissing Leo again.

There was a knock on the lab door and Leo was left to shiver alone on the cot as he watched Raphael move back to the stool next to the cot before the door handle even had a chance to turn.

"I'd be more impressed with your speed right now if it didn't send a huge draft under this blanket," Leo murmured as the door opened and Mikey popped his head in.

"Oh good, you're awake," Mikey said. "I'm here to take your breakfast order." He moved across the room to them and sat in a stool on the other side of Leo's cot. "And maybe to talk to ya, too."

Leo attempted to sit up, and while he was thankful to be able to feel and move his limbs again, he immediately winced when the movement led to a sharp pain in his head. Raphael watched him and moved a hand to Leo's plastron. He didn't push down, but Leo got the message and relaxed back on his shell. Raph grabbed the extra pillows from the other cot and then moved to help Leo get into a semi-elevated position by shifting the pillows under his head and shoulders.

Mikey watched the interaction between the pair and waited. Leo was a healthy green again today, but Mikey could tell he wasn't feeling well. He debated coming back another time, but as Leo settled on the pillows and focused his eyes on Mikey's face, he decided to be brave and keep going.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Woody sooner. For a while, it was fun to have my own secret. And then with all the Foot trouble we were running into, it never seemed like the right time." He glanced over at Raph and got a subtle nod from the bigger turtle before turning back to Leo. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings by keeping it secret."

Leo took in Mikey's earnest expression and reached a hand out which Mikey quickly took. "I'm sorry too, Mikey. I was surprised and kind of hurt that you would keep something like that from us for so long. And I'm sorry I didn't spend much time with Woody while were at the farmhouse. I should've tried to get to know him better since he's obviously so important to you. I hope I get another chance."

"Well, he'd love that too, bro!" Mikey said.

Raphael watched as Mikey practically beamed at Leo before bouncing forward to cover him in a hug him. He smirked for a few moments before finally pulling the smaller turtle off of Leo. Unlike himself, Mike got sick easily and he didn't think Leo should be breathing all over him.

Mikey turned to smile at Raphael as well. "Okay?"

"Yeah, little brother, we're good," Raphael answered.

Mikey sat back on his stool and Leo watched as he suddenly looked nervous again.

"I want to tell Master Splinter about Woody," he finally blurted out after a few more moments. "But I'll only do it if you think its okay."

"We do need to tell Master Splinter," Leo finally said.

Mikey's eyes widened. "You think he's ready to hear about Woody?"

"That's not what I mean, Mikey, although I think you should tell him whenever _you_ decide is the best time," Leo said. Leo turned and locked his eyes with Raph's green eyes. "I mean _we_ need to tell Master Splinter about us," Leo said, and smiled when he saw Raph's eyes widen in surprise. "We didn't like being left out of such an important part of Mikey's life, and sensei wouldn't appreciate being left out either."

"Are ya sayin I'm an important part of yer life, Fearless?"

Leo heard Raph's tease and responded by tilting his head while conveying his best thoughtful expression. "I'd say you fall in the top five of my _important parts of my life_ list."

Raph narrowed his eyes back at Leo's tease and the false look of innocence on Leo's face. But instead of replying, he leaned forward and met Leo's mouth for a kiss which was interrupted a few moments later by Mikey's voice.

"I'm all for being supportive of you two, but we may have to have a PDA discussion," he said with a smile.

"I concur."

Master Splinter hid his smile as three surprised pairs of eyes suddenly moved to where he stood in the lab doorway. He'd admonish them later for letting him sneak up on them.


	11. Chapter 11

Master Splinter walked further into the lab and the three already present were surprised once more as they watched Donnie, Casey, and April trail in after him.

He walked directly to Leonardo first and rested the back of his hand across the eldest turtle's forehead before glancing back at Donatello. Donnie took the hint and moved quickly. He grabbed their thermometer and ran it across Leo's forehead. Then he pulled out a pen light and watched Leo flinch as he tried to look at his eyes.

"Open," he said and directed the light back to Leo's throat. "Throat hurt?" he asked and met Leo's eyes, daring him to lie to him when he'd already seen how red Leo's throat was.

Leo's eyes narrowed at him slightly before he slowly nodded.

Master Splinter watched closely as Leonardo sat silently through the exam. While there was much improvement over the condition he'd been in the night before, he knew how quickly his eldest got sick, and he waited now to hear the prognosis regarding a secondary infection.

Meanwhile, the others in the room remained stone still and quiet, even Mikey was sitting frozen on his stool rather than twirling around in it. And while Raphael was watching Leo's check up closely, he was doing it from the corner of his eye as he did his best to be interested in the wall opposite from where they currently sat.

"Deep breath," Donnie said, pressing his homemade stethoscope to Leo's plastron and listening closely to his lungs. "Do your lungs hurt?"

Leo hesitated and fought the urge to glance at Raphael. "A little bit," he said and watched Donnie's eyes narrow at his hoarse voice.

"Said his head hurts too," Raph interjected, chancing a glare from Leo since he knew Leo wouldn't volunteer the information.

Karai poked her head in the lab, pleased to have finally found everyone. All in one place. She strolled into the room, despite the tension she could feel, and moved to stand next to her father and Mikey at Leo's bedside.

"All recovered?" she asked.

"Not quite," Donnie murmured. He stood and moved to his medicinal cabinets. "And you?" he asked Karai. "Headache? Sore throat?"

Karai shook her head. "No. I feel great." She hid a smile as she saw Leo roll his eyes since it was clear Leo was feeling under the weather. "Don't be mad," she said to him. "Besides, it serves you right. I told you to let me carry you, you cold-blooded dork. You were the one who volunteered to be a turtle-shaped boat."

Mikey watched as Master Splinter's tail twitched, a tell-tale sign that he was holding back a smile and he chuckled before spinning himself once on the stool, happy to have someone else break the tension for once.

"Antibiotics and pain pills just for you, Leo," Donnie said, returning to Leo's side with a glass of water and some pills.

Leo felt slightly awkward having everyone watch him, especially since Master Splinter hadn't said another word since they'd all entered. He still wasn't sure what their father had seen or heard. But he took the pills he was handed and said a polite thank you to Donnie.

"Is it time for breakfast, Michelangelo?" Karai asked. She didn't know what was going on in here, but decided to do her best to get them out of it.

"Not quite," Master Splinter said, hiding another grin as he witnessed Karai's attempt to save her brothers. He moved away from Leonardo's cot so he could be in a position to see all of them at the same time. "I think it is time for a discussion first. I was quite concerned when you all returned home from the farmhouse with secrecy clouding over each and every one of you. And I've noticed some discord between you. So, before I continue, is there anything any of you would like to share?" His eyes traveled around the room and he watched Mikey stare at the ceiling, Leo and Raph look anywhere but at each other, and Donnie move back to stand near, but not too near, Casey and April. Karai sat herself down in Donnie's desk chair and leaned herself against an arm rest, ready to watch.

"Sensei."

Master Splinter turned, as did everyone else in the room. _Of course_ , he thought to himself, _they would wait for the leader to go first_.

"There have been a few personal changes within our group, and I apologize for not coming to you to discuss them sooner," Leo said. "Please don't be angry with anyone else. It was my idea to keep everything from you when we returned from the farmhouse."

"I see," Master Splinter said, running a hand down the length of his beard.

Leo opened his mouth to continue but only managed to release a loud sneeze instead. He hunched forward as the sneeze turned into a coughing fit and couldn't help but press his fist against his forehead at the sharp pain he suddenly felt. Raphael leaned forward immediately with worried eyes. One hand moved to press on Leo's shell while the other lifted his glass of water back to him.

Master Splinter watched with amused eyes. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you two." He watched their eyes snap to his again as everyone in the room once again stilled their movements. "For lack of a better term, I've been watching you two _dance around each other_ for the last few years."

The coughing finally subsiding, Leo reached his hand up and wrapped it not only around his glass of water Raph was offering, but around Raph's fingers as well.

"Ya noticed somethin, but ya didn't say anythin against it to either of us?" Raph asked slowly, doing his best to understand which direction Master Splinter was going for them. Leo finally took the glass out of his hand in order to take a drink, breaking the contact they'd briefly shared. So he let the fingers on his other hand trace over some of the grooves on Leo's shell in a small attempt to be reassuring.

"Hai," Master Splinter said and across the room Karai tilted her head at the teasing tone. This was definitely much different than any of the _family meetings_ Shredder had ever conducted. She let her own small smile show as she realized Hamato Yoshi had been accepting of his sons before the two of them had even realized what was going on. She glanced back to the two turtles and found them grinning at each other. Like idiots.

"You are two halves of the same coin," Master Splinter said seriously. "You have had your disagreements in the past, but I watched as they only brought you closer, instead of driving a wedge between you as I had initially feared. And as much as I enjoy helping you improve, nothing I could ever say or do helped you grow as much as the challenge and encouragement provided to you by the other. So, if you have now decided to become even closer, I want you to know that you have my support in that as well."

Raphael let out the breath he'd been holding as he listened. "Thank you, Father," he said, his voice thick as he curled the fingers on his free hand around Leo's arm.

"Yes, thank you, sensei," Leo said, his voice now barely above a whisper.

Master Splinter watched him try to clear his throat in order to repeat himself, so he shook his head at his eldest son. "Rest your voice, Leonardo. I heard you just fine." He turned his attention to Donatello, April, and Casey. "Speaking of which, Donatello, my ears and I would appreciate it if you and your friends would just go ahead and sleep together in your own room, instead of the main room of the lair."

Karai's eyes widened. After Leo had told her about his relationship with Raphael, she had admonished herself for not seeing it sooner. She'd even convinced herself that given a little more time in the lair, she would've definitely seen it for herself. However, she was fairly certain she would not have seen _Donnie, Casey, and April._ She watched as it was confirmed in front of her own eyes though as Donnie turned an interesting shade of purple, April threw a hand over her mouth to cover a gasp and turned an interesting shade of red, while Casey's face split into a wide grin. A glance at the other three turtle brothers told Karai that she was the only one in the room surprised by the information. Although, Mikey did look a little shocked.

"Whoa, what did you do in the main room?" Mikey asked, his eyes wide towards the three of them. "I sit out there!"

"We all sit out there, Mike," Raph said, a smirk covering his face as well as looked at Casey. "What did you do?"

"N-nothing," Donnie sputtered.

"Not _nothing_ ," Casey said, before laughing as he got a swift elbow in his side from Donnie.

"I will admit this is an interesting development," Master Splinter said, ignoring the previous comments as he turned his full attention to the trio, "and not one that I saw coming. But I can see how you three could balance each other out. Although, as a concerned parent, let me say that I expect you each to move through this together carefully as it develops. You have twice as many feelings to consider with your actions."

Donnie could feel how flushed his face felt, and he was adamantly avoiding looking at any of his brothers, but he managed a "Hai, sensei," with an appreciative nod to his father as both Casey and April offered their own agreements next to him.

"Now, I believe it may be time for breakfast," Master Splinter said.

"Um, Master Splinter?"

"Yes, Michelangelo?" he asked as he turned back towards the room he'd been about to exit. Karai had slid halfway off Donnie's desk chair, but had frozen when Mikey spoke, obviously curious to what he had to say. But the rest of the room's occupants were doing their best to avoid meeting his eyes, telling him that that they already knew what Michelangelo wanted.

Meanwhile, his youngest was looking at him expectantly.

Michelangelo watched as there was no recognition in his father's face that Master Splinter had _forgotten_ to mention Mikey's own secret relationship, which meant that his father didn't actually know. He almost grinned as he realized he'd managed to do something that his older brothers hadn't, but then realized that wouldn't help his case. After all, he wanted the same approval that had just been granted his brothers. And he wanted Woody accepted into the clan more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life.

"I, uh, I have someone I want you to meet."

Although, he did grin after he got the sentence out. Mainly because he'd never seen his dad look that surprised before.


	12. Chapter 12

"That was embarrassing," Donnie said matter of factly as he walked back out to the pit with Casey, April, and Mikey.

"Not for me," Mikey said with a grin. "Didja see sensei's face?" He had bounced over to the couch but now stalled as he stood in front of it in order to eye it suspiciously.

"The couch is fine, Mike," Casey said, dropping himself down on one end of it. He watched Mikey out of the corner of his eye and waited until Mikey began to gingerly lower himself on the couch before speaking again. "Except for there, cause that was Donnie's spot."

"Hey!" Mikey yelped as he sprang back up on his feet. "D!"

Donnie ducked his head, but mostly to hide his own smirk. "I didn't - ," he paused to clear his throat and wrap his arms around April's shoulders from behind, partly to use her as a shield, "- initiate what happened."

Mikey glared back at him. Part of him was happy for Donnie. The other part of him wanted to sit on the couch. "This side okay?" he asked, pointing to the opposite side from where Casey currently sat.

"Sure is," Casey said with a grin. "Specially since Red wasn't on the couch during the -,"

Mikey groaned at the extra information and quickly leapt over the couch to heads towards his own room. He had a phone call to make anyway.

"You're on your own for breakfast!" he called out behind him.

"Too much information, Jones," April growled at him with a pretty impressive glare in his direction.

Casey threw his hands up and smiled. "Hey, I wouldn't have said anything more than that!"

Donnie kissed the top of April's head and then moved so he could sit next to Casey while he pulled April down into his lap. She went without protest and despite the previous glare, moved her legs so that they fell across Casey's lap.

"Besides, if he's been datin Woody for a year, I hardly doubt Mikey is the naive turtle we all thought he was," Casey murmured and then watched as Donnie's face seemed to shift in realization. Clearly, the thought hadn't occurred to the smart turtle previously.

"How much do you think Master Splinter actually heard last night?" April suddenly asked in a low whisper.

"Considering he can probably hear you right now if he really wanted to?" Donnie said, not bothering to whisper. He couldn't help the grin that covered his face. He wanted to feel more embarrassed about the numerous churrs that had escaped him last night but the only emotion he could pull up was affection for the two humans who were currently pressed against him.

"And that didn't occur to you last night!" April said, still maintaining her loud whisper.

"Don't give him a hard time, Red," Casey said. He let one of his hands slide over one of April's legs. "The brain can't be expected to function like normal when yer bein so distractin."

Donnie smiled at Casey in thanks for defending him before shrugging at April. "I'll work on soundproofing today."

"Plus, he wasn't that upset," Casey said, staring off across the room for a moment. "Much cooler than my dad or Mr. O'Neil will ever be."

" _We'll_ work on soundproofing today," April said, finally wrapping an arm around Donnie's neck and relaxing against his plastron. "You in, Jones?"

Donnie turned suddenly to Casey, "Hey, don't you have practice this morning?"

Casey's thoughts about his father receded as he turned to Donnie and April and smiled. He liked this new aspect of his life where Donatello had his schedule memorized and worried over where he should be.

"Yeah," he said, his tone softer than normal. "I better get goin. After practice I have to help my dad in his shop before tonight's game." He stood slowly and eyed the two of them. He really didn't want to leave them. He rested a knee on the couch cushion and let his hand fall to the back of the couch in order to support himself before ducking his face in between their faces. "Last night was fun," he whispered before pressing a kiss to first April's lips and then Donnie's. He straightened and began to walk towards the exit. "I'll text ya when I get home after the game tonight, but I guess I won't see ya till tomorrow."

"Don't pull those stitches out," Donnie called out after him. He watched Casey grin back at him before he disappeared around a corner. He turned his attention back to April. April who was still curled up in his lap. April, who last night had had her mouth –

April twisted and looked up at Donnie. "Did he seem off to you?"

Donnie refocused quickly and nodded. "Yes, he seemed to space out for a moment there. You should go to his game tonight. I can't be there for him in public. But you can."

He watched April nod slowly and reached his hand up to run his fingers through her red hair. It was silky in texture and slipped easily through his fingers. And when he heard a soft sigh, he quickly repeated the motion.

"I'm sorry about the embarrassment this morning," he murmured to her. Although he'd been embarrassed to have been caught, it was clear that it had not embarrassed Casey. If anything, the hockey player even seemed fairly amused by the whole ordeal. But it hadn't escaped Donnie's attention just how red April's skin had become.

"It turned out okay," April said, "right?"

Donnie nodded and shifted slightly in his seat. "And you're okay otherwise? After last night, I mean, because -,"

She cut him off by pressing her mouth over his in a swift kiss. "I have no regrets about last night, Donnie," she whispered to him. "If that's where you're going with this."

He huffed out a breath.

"You forget how well I know you," she responded with a smile. "Even more so after last night I'd say."

He could feel himself flush as he watched her eyes travel down his plastron before rising to meet his again.

"Well, I do enjoy an educational activity," Donnie murmured.

April shifted herself in his lap and Donnie nearly groaned when her hip rubbed against his slit. The small smile on her face made it difficult for him to believe the contact had been accidental.

"You're in luck, then, because there's going to be quite a lot to teach each other." Her smile grew quickly as she heard the purring noise rumble in Donnie's chest. The noise pleased her, but also quickly reminded her that Master Splinter and his excellent hearing were nearby.

Donnie watched April's eyes dart towards the dojo and he let his head fall back against the couch and bit back an exasperated groan. It was an interesting feeling to be both torn between wanting her to continue teasing him, while also thankful that it was going to stop considering how close all of his family members currently were.

"Maybe we should get started on the soundproofing."

Despite having similar thoughts, April giggled out a " _Whatever you say_ " before she wiggled her way out of his lap, with a little more wiggle than was completely necessary.

He narrowed his eyes at her when she stood and stared innocently down at him. His room was already soundproof, a fact no one else knew, and his first instinct was to pick her up and carry her off to it. But Casey's face came to mind and he managed to slow his breathing as he considered what it meant that a part of their trio was currently missing.

April tilted her head at him as she watched the flush disappear and a familiar thoughtful expression take its place.

"What's up, D?" she asked.

He stood up then and took her hand. She didn't ask further questions as he led her into his room and shut the door behind them. He pressed his shell against the door, not trusting himself to go near the bed at the moment.

"You're incredibly arousing, April," he said, cutting right to the chase. "I mean, I thought I was attracted to you _before_ , but really, I had absolutely no idea how -,"

"Donnie," April said, cutting him off before he could go too far off on this tangent, especially because she was pretty sure this wasn't his main point.

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off you. But, it seems like – I mean, since this is all new, that, uh, maybe we shouldn't do new things without everyone present. I mean, I know you said guidelines sounded kind of formal, but we can only do these things for the _first time_ once, right? And if someone were to miss out, then I think that might stick with them. and -,"

April moved forward and pressed her mouth to Donnie's once again. She enjoyed how effective this new technique was at getting his attention. The way his lips moved against hers while his hands moved to her lower back in order to pull her in closer was just an added bonus. She pulled away only when she physically felt his chest vibrate against hers with that purring sound.

"Is there a name for that?"

"Churring," he said, slightly breathless. "Each one is called a churr."

"I like your churrs," she whispered back to him. "Come here." She took one of his hands and led him over to the bed. "I think you're right," she said once they were seated next to each other.

"So that rambling made sense?"

"Yes," she said with a smile. "And we can talk to Casey about this too when we have him again, but you are right. Maybe down the road, when we're all settled into this and we've had some _experience_ , it might be fine for two of us to pursue something even if the third is busy somewhere. But, I was also thinking about this the other night when I was studying and you two were able to sleep together. And I would've felt left out if you'd done more than sleep. And if we do more than kiss right now, Casey will feel left out, and I don't want that for him."

"I don't either," Donatello said. He let one of his fingers trace over her knuckles as she continued to speak.

"And it's fine if you want to call them _guidelines_ ," she said with a laugh. "Although, I don't think we're going to need any charts or graphs."

"Don't underestimate the value of a good chart," Donnie said, straightening in his seat with a wide grin. "We could mark off different activities as we go."

April laughed loudly and couldn't resist climbing into his lap. "Donatello Hamato! Don't you dare!"


	13. Chapter 13

With Mikey's relationship bombshell finally revealed to Master Splinter, their stunned father had ended their impromptu morning meeting and Raph watched as everyone else escaped the lab after him.

"What are ya doin?" he suddenly asked Leo as he watched the turtle begin to sit up.

"I want out of this lab," Leo murmured.

"But all the space heaters are in here," Raph said.

Leo smiled and met Raph's eyes. "I don't need them with you around."

Raph nodded. That was certainly true. And he wasn't in a rush to try to cram back on the small medical cot with Leo. So before Leo could stand, Raph stood and scooped Leo up to carry him out of the room.

Leo could've walked. And maybe he should've insisted. But he liked this, so his only response was to wrap his arms around Raph's neck and stay silent as Raph carried him off. They went unnoticed by those in the pit, mainly because it sounded like Casey was currently busy teasing Michelangelo.

Raphael used one of his feet to shut Leo's door behind them and then set Leo down on the bed.

"Thanks, Raph," Leo said as he happily settled his shell on his own comfortable mattress. He'd subtly shifted his legs as Raph made his way onto the bed so that Raph would fill the space between them, but didn't dare nudge his hips against Raph the way he wanted to. They may have reconciled, but the way Raph had jumped away from him the day before was still fresh in his mind. Plus, he could feel the sleepy side effects of the drugs Donnie had given him begin to set in.

"That wasn't what ya were expectin, was it?"

Leo shifted himself further beneath Raph's warm body. Between the meds Donnie had given him and Raph's heat, he was definitely having a hard time keeping his eyes open. But he managed to look up at Raph with a confused expression. "Expecting?"

"For Master Splinter to be so acceptin of us," Raph added, while trying not to focus on the way Leo's legs were wrapped around him. Leo hummed in response, which Raphael noted wasn't an answer either way. "I'm glad ya had decided to tell him before he basically called us out on it."

"I like this," Leo murmured, nuzzling his nose against Raph's jawline. "Like you on top of me."

Raphael resisted the sudden strong urge to rut against the turtle beneath him. "I like this too," he managed to say. He pulled his head back to try to eye Leo. "Were ya listenin to me before?"

"Don's drowsy drugs," Leo murmured.

Raph chuckled. "Fine. Go to sleep, Fearless."

"You'll stay?"

Raph nuzzled his face against Leo's. "Yeah."

Leo was asleep almost as soon as the word left Raph's mouth and Raphael was left to sit in the silence and watch Leo rest. He wasn't tired, but after almost losing Leo the night before, he didn't mind staying right here, even if Leo were to sleep all day.

An hour later, however, Raphael shook Leo by the shoulders to try to wake him up. Leo's previous peaceful-looking sleep was interrupted by Leo mumbling and twitching. Raph had only caught a few of the words, but immediately sat up and tried to wake him when he heard the Shredder's name mumbled.

Leo swung an arm out to lash out at whoever had their hands around his shoulders. Raph caught Leo's first fist in his palm and ducked backwards to avoid the second, which landed him on his tail on the ground beside Leo's bed. He stood slowly and watched as Leo sat up and stared at him, clearly confused.

"Raph?"

A knock at the door interrupted them and Raphael moved to the door to open it. Leo couldn't see who was at the door, and could only hear low murmurs. But a moment later, Raphael merely glanced back at him before he stepped out of the room and their father stepped in. He closed the door behind him and moved over to sit in a chair at Leo's bedside before extending his hand out to hand Leonardo the tea he'd brought him.

After Michelangelo's shocking news that morning about his secret human boyfriend, Master Splinter had excused himself from their family meeting in order to immediately meditate in the dojo. An activity Karai had joined him in and he'd been comforted by his daughter's nearby presence.

He was fairly certain now, after his meditation, that he understood the discord he'd witnessed between Michelangelo and his brothers upon their return from the farmhouse. He could see that the other three had had their feelings hurt by Michelangelo's year-long secrecy. However, for his part, the fact that his youngest had maintained a relationship like this for a whole year, and nothing adverse had come of it, had brought him a sense of relief and happiness. He was sure that if Michelangelo had told him about Woody when he first met him, his first reactions would have been anger and worry. Understanding and acceptance would certainly have taken a great deal longer.

There would still be some work to be done with Michelangelo, including meeting this new human. And he would need to keep a subtle eye on Donnie's new arrangement. Not to mention the amount of healing Karai still needed to endure. But he pushed those thoughts aside as he sat with his eldest. Right now, it was time to focus on what was troubling Leonardo.

"Sensei." Leo quickly straightened his shell as his father sat next to his bed. His bed that now smelled like Raphael as well, a scent he was sure his father's nose could pick up. He accepted the tea his father had brought him, but began speaking before even taking a sip. "I feel like I should apologize again for not telling you about all of our changes. It was foolish to think you wouldn't notice." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I told the others I thought it was too many changes for you all at once, but -,"

"But it was too many changes for _you_ all at once," Master Splinter interjected.

Leo rubbed a hand down his face. "I'm not even sure why. It's not like any of it was bad news."

"Leonardo," Master Splinter said, resting a hand on his son's shoulder to squeeze for a moment. "I have never apologized to you."

"Apologized?" Leo asked. His face jerked up to meet his father's.

"You were still very young when you had to begin facing the Shredder. And Saki was here in New York because he was looking for me."

Leo frowned and finally lifted the tea cup to take a drink. "Shredder forced us to become involved by going after you. We're family."

"That's a very mature opinion, my son. But it doesn't change the fact that each of you were hurt in one way or another over several years because of a fight that began between me and my brother. Or that you were forced to behead him in order to end the fight."

Leo ducked his head and Master Splinter knew he'd finally pinpointed what was troubling the young leader. He wasn't accustomed to having Leonardo keep things from him, although he knew him well enough to know that there must be a good reason for the recent secrecy.

"The mere fact that you are troubled by the action, and by his death, reveal what a strong, compassionate leader you are, Leonardo. All of your hard work resulted in a victory for this entire family, although I understand the burden you now carry because of it. I wish I could remove that burden from you, but only time will be able to do that."

Leo sighed slowly and considered his father's words. In a way, the acknowledgment was nice, just the same way Raphael had acknowledged the same issue out at the farmhouse. And it was somewhat of a relief to know that his father understood why he was stuck still focusing on the memories of the event.

"Thanks, dad," he said, and received a nod in return. Then he thought about some of his father's earlier words. His father watched as his mouth opened and then shut.

"You want to know if I'm accepting of you and Raphael because I think it will prevent another generation of brothers fighting against brothers?"

Leo raised an eye ridge, no longer surprised when his father could voice his own thoughts out loud like that. After all, it was likely no coincidence that Master Splinter appeared directly after his nightmare about Shredder.

"I have never considered you and Raphael following in my and Saki's path as a possibility. The four of you are bonded in a way that Saki and I never were. And, besides, I do believe that you and Raphael are well matched. You carry a great deal on your shoulders for this entire family, Leonardo. And Raphael has always watched you very closely in this. When the burden becomes overwhelming, he has always stepped in with a distraction. Although, this distraction usually came in the form of him picking a fight with you, but perhaps the distraction technique will change now that you've decided to become closer."

Leo leaned back against his headboard and groaned with his free hand over his face. Being thankful that his father accepted their relationship didn't defer any level of embarrassment that came with his father actually discussing it. Master Splinter chuckled and stood from his chair.

"You are always free to consult with me, Leonardo, even as you become your own young man. And you may find that consulting with Raphael satisfies that need, which is also okay, as long as you remember that you do not have to do any of this alone. Just remember, it is okay to focus on an event in order to learn and recover from it. Just don't unpack and live there."

"Hai, sensei."

Master Splinter moved to the door. "I sent Raphael to put together your lunches. I'm sure he will be back in a few moments." He watched a smile spread across Leonardo's face, which he attempted to hide behind his tea cup, before he ducked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I think I'm finished addressing the serious. Next chapter will hopefully be posted later today.


	14. Chapter 14

He'd sent April and Donnie a text earlier during a work break to ask if April was spending the night at the lair, but so far neither had responded. He realized he needed to stop thinking about it as his head was slammed into the glass wall of the hockey rink with a grunt by a player from the other team.

He adjusted his helmet and straightened on his skates, but paused when a flash of red caught his eye. He zeroed in on April where she sat in the stands. She lifted her pointer finger to her cheekbone and he instantly got the message and looked up, right into a pair of brown eyes. The rest of the turtle was hidden in the darkened rafters. Casey glanced back down to April and then back up to Donnie and grinned around his mouthguard. Then there was a flash of light, and Casey's eyes narrowed in on the words Donnie had typed across his tablet: _Head in the game_

Casey's grin morphed into a smirk and he adjusted his helmet once more as he heard his coach yell at him to get his ass moving. He shoved off against the wall and skated back into the game.

* * *

Leo glared at the space heater as it chugged back to life and began to reheat his bedroom. Donnie had asked Raphael for a favor, mainly wanting to know where and how Raph had managed to sneak in and watch some of Casey's games. So Raph had left with Donnie and April earlier, right after he'd dragged the space heater into Leo's bedroom.

The drowsy side effects of Donnie's medications had worn off. And after sleeping for almost the entire day, he needed out of this bed and away from Raphael's loud and poor replacement. He shifted his feet onto the cold floor and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders before standing and slowly leaving his room.

"Get back in there."

He froze at the sound of Karai's voice when he was one step through his door. Even though it had been a few weeks since she'd officially come to live with them, it was still a little strange to see Karai lounging and reading in the lair's pit.

"I know Raphael told you to text me if you needed anything. What do you want? I'll bring it to you."

"I need out of that bed," Leo said, moving to the pit despite her glare, and settling himself into Raph's beanbag chair. He took in a deep breath, inhaling Raph's scent from the material. "What are you reading?"

"I'm pretty sure I could force you back into bed," she said. "Is that really what you want in your weakened state?"

"Are you afraid of Raphael?" Leo asked with a grin.

"No," Karai said with a glare, "but I was given a simple job-,"

"Babysitting."

"- and I intend to follow through."

"You know, I bet I could've gone to the hockey game tonight too if I wasn't trying to beat off walking pneumonia." Leo pushed himself further down into the beanbag chair and looked up at the ceiling as if deep in thought. "Any idea how I could've caught _pneumonia_?"

Karai sighed and counted to ten in her head. "Alright. Fine," she said with her best icy tone. "I have decided that you may stay out here for a little while."

"You're too kind."

"Is there anything you need _out_ _here_?"

"I could really use some warm tea," Leo said, sending her his best pitiful look. "And maybe a movie?"

Karai put down the comic book Mikey had given her to read before he'd headed out and stood to head to the kitchen.

"Did you still want me to text that to you?" Leo called out after her.

"I'm not watching anything space nerdy," she called back over her shoulder.

* * *

Woody tossed a pizza gyoza and grinned when Mikey caught it in the air with his mouth. They were sitting together at a small table that Mikey had set up in the back room of Mr. Murakami's shop. Michelangelo's good mood could've been heard over the phone earlier, and Woody was thrilled to see such a happy Mikey in person as well.

"So you want me to meet your dad?"

Mikey nodded as he chewed.

"And he knows I'm human?"

Mikey nodded again.

Woody smiled. "And I get to see your home? Your room?"

Mikey frowned for a moment, "Well, maybe after I clean it."

"You don't have to clean it for me, Mikester."

"According to Donnie and his health and safety codes, I probably should," Mikey said with a grin.

Woody chuckled as well. "How long is that going to take?"

"You think we'll still be together in another year? Can I put you down to meet my dad then?"

Woody laughed. Mikey's good mood was contagious. He leaned forward to capture Mikey's mouth in a kiss that neither were willing to part from for the next few minutes. It wasn't until they heard Mr. Murakami shuffle into the room that they pulled apart.

"Don't let me interrupt," Mr. Murakami said as he collected what he needed from a back shelf and headed back to the front of the shop with a knowing smile.

"Was your dad mad?" Woody asked as soon as they were alone again.

"Nope.

"And your brothers are okay with us now?"

"They were fine with us before," Mikey said, leaning over to give Woody a quick reassuring kiss. "It was me they were mad at. But they're not mad anymore."

Woody smiled again. It felt like a weight had been lifted, although now he had to face meeting Mikey's father. But, he thought as Mikey leaned into another kiss with him, Michelangelo was worth the nerves.

"So, when can I come over?" Woody asked.

* * *

Raphael frowned down at Leonardo, despite how cute he may or may not think the turtle was curled up asleep in his beanbag chair. He glanced over at Karai, who was curled up asleep on one end of the couch as the main menu from one of their Star Trek DVDs looped continuously on the TV.

He picked up the remote and clicked off the television, which woke both Leo and Karai. Leo smiled sleepily up at him as he leaned down and scooped Leo up out of the beanbag.

"Ya had one job," Raph said to Karai as she stood and stretched from the couch.

She rolled her eyes and followed him towards the bedrooms. "He can be – persuasive."

"Amateur," he muttered as Leo's nose nuzzled his neck.

"Good night to you, too," she called over to him as she slipped into her own room.

"Yer cold," Raph growled at Leo as he kicked his door shut behind him. He dumped Leo into his bed and watched Leo quickly duck under the blanket. "Why is this heater off?"

"Wastes electricity to have it on when I'm not in here," Leo said from under the cold covers.

"But it keeps it warm for when you come back," Raph said, exasperated with his stubborn turtle. "What were ya doin out there?"

"I was bored," Leo said, peeking his eyes out from under the blanket. He watched as Raph pushed his gear off and smiled to himself since it was clear Raph was going to stay. "How was the game?"

Raph pulled the blanket back and climbed into the bed. He sucked in a breath as he pulled Leo into him. "Ya know, I know ya enjoy this, but its not as much fun for me to cuddle an ice cube."

Leo pulled his nose out of Raph's neck and made a real attempt to back his cold body away from the other turtle. Raphael chuckled and tightened his arms around Leo. "Worth it, Fearless," he murmured. He reached up with one hand and pulled Leo's mask off his face. "Game was good. Much better once Casey realized April and Donnie were watchin. Scored four goals after that. His team won."

"Where are they now?"

"Don and April stayed behind to see Casey. I'm sure they'll find someplace safe," he added as he nuzzled his face down to Leo's and breathed in Leo's scent, only slightly muted due to his cold skin. He began pressing kisses to Leo's cheek until he finally reached Leo's mouth. Leo moaned into the kiss and shifted himself closer to Raph's plastron.

"Need ya to get better," Raph said, letting his hands slide down Leo's sides.

"I feel better already," Leo murmured, getting the words out only a moment before he jerked his face away from Raphael in order to sneeze and then heave out several coughs.

Raphael chuckled and stopped his hands' exploration of Leo's body. "Time for sleep."

Leo had been about to let his own hands wander over Raphael, but he pulled his hands back at Raph's words. He ducked his eyes and ignored the pressure that had been building below the slit of his plastron since Raphael had first picked him up from the pit earlier.

"Mikey and Donnie aren't home yet," he murmured.

"I'll stay awake till they get home this time," Raph said. Leo had stilled beneath him and he watched as Leo was no longer meeting his eyes. "Ya okay?"

"Yeah," Leo said. "Night, Raph."

Raphael frowned and moved his hand to the back of Leo's neck, doing his best to subtly check his temperature. He'd already warmed up from earlier, but also didn't feel too warm. He shrugged to himself.

"Night, Fearless."


	15. Chapter 15

When Casey finally made it up to April's rooftop, he found Donnie and April sitting on the opposite ledge. Her head was on his shoulder and they were quietly murmuring back and forth to each other.

He'd been afraid they weren't going to be here by the time he got here. Casey's coach thought the thirty or so minutes directly after a game was the best time to review _all_ of the best and worst plays of the night, no matter how many frustrated looks the players threw at him. And after all that, he still had to jump in the shower before he left the rink.

So a grin spread across his face when Donnie turned and spotted him. Because they were both still here. And they were rising to their feet and smiling back at him.

He threw his arms around both of them and pulled them in close, letting the physical affection speak for him before he opened his mouth. It was a little funny, with Donnie being so tall and his shoulders so broad, Casey had to lean into him, and he ended up dragging April's shorter frame several inches forward, causing her to laugh as she was smooshed between them.

"It was awesome to see you at my game!" he finally said a moment later.

"I'm glad we made it," April said. "I had no idea how many hits to the head you took in one game."

"Hey!" Casey said, finally releasing the two of them with a scowl. "It wasn't that bad!

"No, it wasn't," April said, smiling back at him. "You did great, Jones."

"Very impressive," Donnie added. "April and I were just saying that we like the way you move on the ice."

Casey chuckled to cover the fact that he thought he might start blushing. He was a lot of bravado a lot of the time, but damn if it didn't feel good to be complimented by his two favorite people on the one thing he'd always thrown his heart into.

"So, uh, what did you two do today?" he asked as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

"I made a sex chart," Donnie said.

Casey stopped short and gaped at Donnie as April swatted at the turtle.

"He did not!" April said, although she couldn't help laughing at Casey's shocked expression.

"You'd like it if I made a sex chart, wouldn't you Jones?"

"Y-yes," Casey quickly replied. He didn't even care what it was.

"Looks like its two against one, April."

"That's not how this works," April said.

"Let D make his charts, April," Casey added.

"Don't encourage him, Casey," April said, narrowing her eyes at both of them before she couldn't help but smile and shake her head at them. She leaned into Casey and gave him another hug. "I've got to go to bed," she said. "Nice moves tonight, Jones."

He pulled her in close and kissed her. He wanted to protest her leaving, even though he knew she had class early the next morning, but knew he'd already made them wait.

"Thanks, Red."

April pulled Donnie down into a kiss as well before murmuring, "You can tell Casey about your charts."

Donnie chuckled as he and Casey both moved to watch her descend the fire escape until she disappeared into her apartment.

"What's this about sex charts?" Casey asked with a grin when she was gone.

"Come on, I'll tell you what she and I discussed earlier on our way to your place," Donnie said. "If you can keep up."

Donnie took off and Casey ignored his sore limbs and took off after him. He listened as Donnie explained that he and April, much to Casey's relief, hadn't done anything _special_ that day without him. And that they didn't feel like it would be right to do anything for the first time without everyone present. And Casey had to grab Donnie's arm as they ran and pull him to a stop just to kiss him.

"It was botherin me today," Casey admitted. "I didn't know what I was missin."

"You won't miss anything," Donnie said, running a hand down Casey's arm in order to loop their fingers together. He tugged on Casey's hand and made the final jump necessary to get to Casey's rooftop.

"So, yer chart would let us keep track of each time we try something new?" Casey asked with a lewd grin.

"See, and April was worried all those hits to your head would do permanent damage."

Casey rolled his eyes before he glanced down to look at the way his and Donnie's fingers were still looped together.

"Thanks for the encouragement tonight."

"Well you clearly needed it," Donnie teased.

"Hey, I didn't get hit that many times."

"Good thing, too. Since I'm not sure how I feel about watching someone else bodycheck you."

Casey grinned back at him. The possessiveness was a nice touch. And not something he'd ever experienced before. "Ya can check my body any time you want, D."

Donnie groaned while Casey laughed, tightening his fingers around Donnie's until Donnie laughed too. He loved this. Loved seeing Donnie relax and laugh with him.

"Ya set that one up," he told the turtle. "Come on, you'd be disappointed if I didn't follow through on that one."

Donnie had to nod at that and he pulled Casey against his plastron in order to kiss him.

"I'll have to make it to more of your games," Donnie said.

"Ya liked my moves on the ice, huh?"

"I did," Donnie said. "You made it look like there's actually some muscle in those skinny limbs of yours."

"You've felt my muscles, nerd."

"Not all of them."

Casey froze and stared at Donnie as the tall turtle simply stared back at him with a certain glint in his eye. A glint Casey was quickly beginning to recognize. A heat-filled promise that sent a spark straight through Casey.

Donatello leaned forward and kissed him again. "Night Jones."

* * *

When Leo woke the next morning, his head finally felt clear and his throat and lungs no longer burned, which he had to take as good signs since it had been hours and hours since he'd taken any medication. Plus, his arms and legs felt restless instead of sluggish and heavy. He lifted himself up on an elbow and stared down at Raphael who was sprawled out on his plastron next to him with just an arm tossed around Leo's shell.

Raph had taken the spot closest to the door, and Leo wondered if he'd done it purposely. Leo was the elder of the two, and the team leader, and he certainly didn't need to be protected. Perhaps Raph had done it because Leo had been sick. But, knowing Raph, the big lug, he'd probably always take that side.

 _Always take that side_. It was a thought that made Leo smile.

He let his eyes roam over Raphael. Raphael's handsome face. His muscular arms. That familiar shell. He loved Raphael. And now that he was free to show it, he knew he was going to have a hard time keeping his hands off the strong turtle. Just the sight of him made Leo want to pull him into a kiss and grind against him until they were both satisfied.

Leo tried to take a calming breath as he gingerly moved Raph's arm off his shell so he could get up. He needed to clear his head of how amazing Raph would look flushed and panting against him, especially because Raphael didn't seem to have the same thoughts. Leo stood and stretched, quietly collected his gear, and slipped out of the room.

He tried to tell himself that Raph had been pulling physically away from him because Raph had been mad at him, which was quickly followed by a near death experience and subsequent illness for Leo. But part of him feared there was more to it. And sooner or later, he was going to have to actually bring it up with Raph. And considering how well their last serious discussion had gone, he wasn't really looking forward to it.

He headed into the dojo and settled himself on the floor next to Master Splinter and Karai for morning meditation. He was distinctly aware of Raph's entrance into the dojo about thirty minutes later, which was soon followed the soft clinking noise of weights being lifted.

"Rude, D," Leo said a few minutes later when he felt a thermometer run across his forehead.

"Rude is making me hunt down my patient," Donnie muttered. He'd expected to find Leo still in bed resting this morning. "Deep breath."

Leo opened his eyes to glare at the meditation interrupter, and then dutifully took a deep breath as Donnie listened to his lungs before he also let Donnie check out his throat.

"I'm impressed," Donnie said. "Lungs still hurt?" Leo shook his head. "Coughing?" He watched Leo hesitate. "Well, I'm sure you'll still have a cough for a few weeks."

Donnie continued to talk, taking the opportunity as a teaching moment for his brothers. If only they would come to Donnie " _at their first symptoms_ , _instead_ _of_ _ignoring the signs for several days yadda yadda sickness overtakes you and then yadda yadda expect the medicine to miraculously work even though the pathogen has made it through yadda yadda"_.

Leo did his best not to yawn and he moved his eyes over to where Raphael sat. Raph had paused in his own workout during the impromptu checkup and had his eyes pinned on Leo. Truthfully, they'd been pinned on Leo since he'd first found him here in the dojo after he'd woken up alone. He'd been worried about what Leo could've needed that early in the morning, and had wondered why Leo hadn't just woken him to ask for help. He'd been surprised to find Leo in the dojo looking completely healthy.

Healthy. The right leaf green color. Peaceful. Strong.

Leo tilted his head at Raph when he caught his stare, obviously wondering what was going through his head, and Raph could only be thankful a churr didn't rise up his throat in front of everyone in that very moment in response to Leo's silent question. Instead, Leo didn't get an answer as Raph lay back against the weight bench and restarted the count on his most recent set.

Leo turned back to Donnie as Mikey walked into the room. "So I can practice today?"

"No, don't be ridiculous," Donnie said. "And don't look at me like that."

Leo turned his glare towards the opposite wall instead and silently rose to leave the dojo. He decided he'd make himself some tea and then return to at least watch everyone in practice. It might even be good for him to stand back and observe. Give him a chance to see things in regards to his brothers that he didn't normally get to –

"Mmh," he grunted as he was suddenly spun and then pushed into the closest wall. He offered zero resistance as Raph's scent filled his nose. Instead he met Raph's kiss eagerly as he was pinned between the emerald turtle's arms. Raphael grabbed hold of Leo's mask tails and pulled, forcing Leo's head back so that he could reach Leo's neck with his mouth.

"Yer feelin better?"

With his head jerked back, the best Leo could do was make a sound in the affirmative.

"Ya do _feel_ good," Raph said, letting go of Leo's mask tails so that both of his hands were free to roam down Leo's sides. "And ya _look_ good." He began kissing Leo again and then reached behind Leo's shell in order to jerk him forward. A small groan escaped them both as their plastrons scraped against each other.

Raphael realized that while Leo was responding to his kisses, he was keeping his hands to himself, and from his short _physical_ experience with Leo, he already knew the chaste behavior was unusual. He already missed Leo's seemingly frantic need to touch him. To rub against him. He wanted to see that side of Leo again, and he wasn't in the mood for a long conversation about what was keeping Leo restrained, especially since he had a pretty good idea. So, he opted for a different method.

" _Put yer damn hands on me_ ," Raphael growled out. There was a flash of relief in Leo's eyes before those blue eyes darkened. Half of Raph's mouth quirked up as he felt Leo's hands land on his upper arms and squeeze. He responded by reaching for Leo's ass, which he'd been longing to get his hands on since before that damn Foot building alert had gone off.

Leo churred at the contact and his hips jerked forward towards Raphael before he murmured, "Your hands always go there."

"Cause its perfect," Raph rumbled back against Leo's lips, "and I want it to be mine."

Heat sparked through Leo's very center at the sound of Raph's deep voice, at the possessiveness of Raph's fingers, and at the feeling of Raph's lips moving their way down his neck again.

"Make it yours."

"Don't tempt me," Raph said before nipping at Leo's jawline.

Leo pulled his head back and met Raph's eyes. "Make it yours," he repeated slowly and then watched as a possessive lust sparked in Raph's green eyes as they scanned over his face.

Raphael was already lightly panting from just this minimal contact. Already having a hard time keeping himself contained in his shell. And now Leo was offering –

"Ya know," Raph said, his voice a gravely whisper, "ya really have no goddamn right looking so innocent while sounding so goddamn sexy at the same time, Fearless."

Leo smiled innocently back at him as his arms moved up around Raph's neck and he rubbed his lower plastron against Raphael. The _look_ Raph was referring to was one Leo had secretly perfected to use against their enemies in battle. It was a distraction technique designed to let his opponent underestimate him before they went up against his katana. But Leo realized in this moment just how much fun he was going to have using it with Raphael.

"Master Splinter is waiting, Raph," Mikey said, poking his head out of the dojo. He narrowed his eyes at the two turtles he found who were suspiciously panting while standing at least three feet apart from each other. "Hey," he said, pointing a finger at them both. "I stand there sometimes."

* * *

A/N: I have to gush over you readers for a moment because you're spoiling me with awesome reviews. I hope that you know that any kind review you leave on any story is always loved and appreciated by the author. They're nice reminders of what a friendly community we have in this fandom. Writing these stories would not be as much fun without you guys here.

Speaking of friendly community, some lovely person nominated "Stamina" in the Best Lewd Comedy category of the TMNT Mature Fanfiction Competition. Great big thank you and internet baked good of your choice to the nominator! This was a huge surprise and it's such an amazing feeling to see my very first one-shot listed on a ballot full of great stories.

I hope you check out the ballot as well. The stories have been flagged so you can find (or avoid) certain topics.[TMNT Mature Fanfiction Ballot](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q4YZyw1Ay2FeNKptZnUYzoLCZeop2VpCw-JbzVPsWR0/edit)


	16. Chapter 16

The tight pressure in Leo's lower plastron had him actually happy to be sitting on the sidelines of practice. Especially since the feeling wasn't going anywhere with Raphael performing katas in front of him. He meant to watch the entire team and take mental notes. But after being attacked by Raphael before practice, his eyes refused to leave the emerald turtle. Raphael's eyes moved to meet his every once in a while as well and Leo would shiver every single time one of those heated expressions was sent his way.

With Karai included in their morning training, they were still an even number and were soon paired up to spar against each other. Raphael went up against Karai first and Leo watched as Raph's brute strength quickly gave him an advantage, despite Karai's speed and skill, she was soon down on the mat and yielding to the larger turtle.

Karai growled and pushed Raph's smug face away from her own. She quickly stood again and then eyed him, thinking hard before opening her mouth.

"Show me how you do that," she finally said, deciding to push her pride down in order to learn something useful.

Raphael looked surprised, but quickly pushed his shoulders back, pleased to have something to offer the former Foot soldier. "Okay," he said. "Come at me again."

Leo was so caught up in watching that he'd barely noticed that Mikey had edged closer to his side until he spoke.

"I don't know if sensei told you, but I'm bringing Woody over today. Later this afternoon."

Leo turned to look at him. He recognized that tone of voice.

"I'm not cleaning your room for you."

"Not for me, bro! With me!"

"No."

"Please, Leo? I can't let Woody see it the way it is!"

"So just clean it yourself."

"You know I can't do that," Mikey said in his most pitiful voice. He widened his eyes, doing his best to make them as large and sad as possible. He watched Leo glance at him again, sigh, and then turn his attention back to the mats.

Leo did know that Mikey couldn't clean his room by himself. Mikey's attention never stayed on task when it came to cleaning, especially in his own room where literally every single thing was a distracting plaything.

"Or maybe I could tell Woody that your room is my room?" Mikey asked.

Leo groaned as his plans to spend time with Raphael after practice vanished. "No way am I pretending your landfill of a room is my room," he said in resignation.

"Thanks, bro!" Mikey said, throwing himself onto Leo in a hug.

* * *

Woody's eyes were wide as he was shown around the lair. Mikey kept talking, even though Woody stayed pretty quiet. He rambled on to cover his growing worry over Woody's silence as they moved from space to space. Waved his hands at the pinball machine and the tire swing as if Woody couldn't figure out on his own what they did with those things.

His brothers had been in Donnie's lab, doing their best to stay out of the way while he gave Woody the tour. They'd been friendly with Woody, which he appreciated, because Woody had genuinely smiled and said hello when he saw them.

But now he paused outside the dojo and turned to the abnormally quiet Woody.

"Hey, Woods," he said, pulling one of Woody's hands into his own. "We don't have to do this now. Now that you've seen the lair, if you want to go home and think about -,"

"Think about what?" Woody asked, eyes suddenly zeroed in on Mikey.

"Well, I mean, I know I told you it was in the sewer, but seeing that it's really in the sewer -,"

Woody pulled Mikey into a tight hug and then murmured, "Its true, this place is not what I was expecting." He pulled back and grinned at the freckled turtle. "I mean, this place is _warm_. You know? Like, not just concrete walls. This place is lived in. It's a real home. Although you still haven't shown me your room, yet," he added with a suspicious eyebrow raise, "but this place is great. Your home is great, Michelangelo."

Mikey beamed back at Woody, more relieved than he was expecting to be to find that Woody was comfortable here in his home. He felt Woody squeeze his fingers, though as he glanced towards the dojo door.

"Wait, are you just nervous about meeting sensei? Why?"

"Well, you call him sensei."

"Only because he's a ninja master."

"Yeah, that's not really helping my nerves, Mikester," Woody said with a pointed look at his turtle. "Plus, it's your _dad_."

"That shouldn't make you nervous," Mikey said, his grin growing. "Just think about it like this, I didn't get this awesome all by myself!"

"He certainly did not," Master Splinter said, sliding the dojo door open so he could finally lay eyes on the young man he could hear speaking with Michelangelo.

"Sensei!" Mikey said, all cheer as he landed a hand on Woody's shoulder. "This is Woody. And Woody, this is my father. You can call him Master Splinter."

"Konnichiwa, Master Splinter," Woody said, doing his best to keep his voice steady when he saw how very tall Mikey's mutant rat father was. "Hajimemashite."

Leo's blue eyes swung around to meet Raph's and Donnie's eyes behind him from where they stood hidden in the lab doorway. Raph rolled his eyes but Donnie's face matched his own impressed expression.

"He didn't pull the Japanese out for us," Raph muttered.

"You guys should be ashamed of yourselves for spying," Karai whispered, coming up behind the three of them, although none of them appeared startled to see her. Damn ninja brothers took all the fun out of sneaking up on people. In fact, the only acknowledgement she got was when Donnie murmured that she could, " _Hear better from this side_ " and shifted slightly to allow her room to squeeze in and listen with them.

"Dude, you know Japanese!" Mikey exclaimed, letting his hand fall from Woody's shoulder to his fingers in order to squeeze his hand tightly in his excitement.

"Um, no," Woody said, although he felt brave enough to smile since he was pretty sure Mikey's father had just smiled. "Just those words. And I'm sorry if I'm butchering the pronunciation."

"No, you did just fine," Master Splinter said. "It is nice to meet you as well. Why don't you two come in and sit? It seems we have a year's worth of stories to catch up on."

"I don't think you want _all_ the stories, sensei," Mikey teased and Master Splinter stifled a grin when he saw Woody elbow him.

* * *

"Wait, how do you do that?" Leo asked, leaning over to so he could watch Woody's fingers shift over the controller buttons.

Mikey laughed from behind them. He was seated on their couch while Leo and Woody were on the floor, both eager to be closer to the television to properly compete against each other.

"Don't waste your time, Leo. Pretty sure you need ten fingers to pull it off," Mike said. He rolled to his side and propped his legs on the back of the couch.

Leo's eyes narrowed and Woody almost laughed as he watched Mikey's big brother consider the challenge.

"Okay, look," Woody said. He paused their game and showed Leo the sequence needed to jump a wall, which would allow him to advance by skipping almost the entire track in this level.

"Beat that, Jones," Raph said as he wiped out Casey's high score. Again. Casey landed a punch on his shoulder and pushed Raph aside to reclaim his fame over the pinball machine. Raphael only smirked at him before turning to seek out Leo again. The big pushover had spent most of the day following Mikey around his room with trash bags. Throwing out orders like a drill sergeant over what Mikey could keep and what must _absolutely_ go in the trash. Raphael had steered clear of that literal mess. Although, he was happy to see Leo and Mike back to normal. And he smiled now as he watched Leo's concentrated expression as he raced against Woody.

Leo growled as his fingers wouldn't cooperate and perform Woody's over the wall cheat. And given that Woody was now _unfairly_ ahead of him on the track, he resorted to his own secret move, which involved elbowing Woody in his side.

"Hey!" Woody said, pushing his own elbow back towards Leo as he spun off the track. "I tried to show you the jump!"

Mikey smiled as he watched them. Woody had visibly relaxed only a few minutes into their conversation with Master Splinter. And sensei hadn't kept them for long. Mikey was pretty sure that Woody's friendly and open nature had won his father over fairly quickly. Plus, sensei had said that he hoped Woody would visit them often before he shooed them out of the dojo, which Mikey took as flat out approval of his favorite human.

Leo dropped his controller as Woody sped over the finish line, winning by a landslide. Mikey took the opportunity and squeezed in between the two of them, letting his legs rub against Woody's legs as he snatched up Leo's controller to play the next round.

"Good round, Leo," Woody said.

Leo issued a quiet _thanks_ , although he noticed and appreciated that instead of being sarcastic, Woody was being sincere. He clearly had good sportsmanship. He also clearly didn't grow up with brothers.

Leo rose from the ground and moved into the kitchen. He pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a long drink as his eyes found and then roamed slowly over Raphael. Raph's bright green eyes were lit up, clearly enjoying an apparent win against Casey if Casey's kicking their pinball machine was any indicator. Raphael grinned at Casey's behavior, and Leo smiled just at the sight.

He was still smiling when Master Splinter joined him in the kitchen a moment later.

"I'm happy to see you so well recovered," Master Splinter said.

"Thank you, sensei."

There was a loud cheer from the pit that had both of them turning their heads to glance at Mikey and Woody.

"Who would've thought Mikey would end up the sneakiest ninja of us all?" Leo murmured to his father.

"I will perhaps never recover from that level of surprise," Master Splinter said with a wry smile as he watched his youngest beam at the curly haired human who sat beside him. "However, seeing them interact today has certainly waylaid my fears for your brother concerning this new human. He certainly passed the first test."

"What was the first test?" Leonardo asked.

"He did not immediately turn into a Kraang upon entering our home."

Leonardo chuckled and turned away from the pit and back towards Master Splinter, who smiled as well. And not for the first time, Leo was hit with a feeling of gratefulness that Master Splinter was their father.

"From what I can see," Master Splinter continued, "Woodrow appears to be a sincere, fun-loving young man who clearly loves your brother and who can also keep our identities to himself, considering how long this has been going on."

Leo nodded in agreement as they were joined in the kitchen then by Mikey and Woody, and Mikey explained that he and Woody were going to make dinner for everyone. Instead of leaving, Leo decided to stay in the kitchen. He'd told Mikey he wanted to get to know Woody better and he was going to do his best to fulfill that promise.

Master Splinter excused himself, eager to get out of their way. But he called out to Leonardo over his shoulder as he left. "Maybe just sit at the island. No need to help them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I had some more planned for this chapter in regards to my favorite turtles, but my eyes are going blurry. More tomorrow!
> 
> Konnichiwa - Hello
> 
> Hajimemashite – Nice to meet you


	17. Chapter 17

Their home just wasn't that large. It shouldn't be so difficult to find a turtle, especially a turtle who, despite feeling better, had been caught noisily coughing more than once today.

Everyone had disappeared after dinner. Raph knew Mike had left with Woody in order to take Woody home. He wasn't sure where everyone else went. Nor did he care. He thought he'd been pretty patient throughout the day as Leo spent time with the others, but he counted right now as _his_ time with Leo. If only he could find the damn turtle.

He'd gone to Leo's room, expecting him to be in bed already, but only found an empty room instead. He'd searched the dojo, Don's lab, the kitchen, and his own room. He stood now in the center of the pit and suddenly realized that all of Leo's gear had been stacked neatly beside Leo's bed, which should've told him right away where Leo had probably headed.

He moved down the hall and paused only a moment outside the bathroom door once he heard the shower water running. He silently slid into the bathroom and locked the door behind him with a grin. He pushed his gear off in record time and then moved over to the large shower stall Leo was currently using. Since Leo stood with his shell to the door, Raph leaned himself against the tiled wall and watched as soap bubbles slid down Leo's shell and legs thanks to the steamy downspray of water. He licked his lips as his eyes zeroed in on Leo's tail. Their tails weren't often visible and he felt himself breathe a little faster as Leo's tail flicked his way.

"Do you know what gets turned on by naked people?"

His eyes darted upwards as Leo's voice broke through his thoughts and he caught Leo's face peering at him from over his shoulder. The smirk on Leo's face told him that he'd been caught staring.

He raised an eye ridge at Leo in regards to his question.

"Shower heads," Leo said, turning back to replace the soap once he saw Raph grin at the answer. "Woody told me that one earlier." He moved to turn the water off but was stopped by an emerald hand, as Raph was suddenly beside him, joining him in the water's stream.

Raphael smiled at him. He'd missed Leo today, but he couldn't help but appreciate the time and effort Leo had put in for Mikey in regards to Woody.

"Ya know, you've done an awful lot of work regardin all those things we talked about in the tunnel the other night," Raph said, "but -,"

Leo stilled as he heard Raph's serious tone. He'd made some mistakes with Raphael, and the rest of their family, and suddenly wondered if what he'd done so far to make amends hadn't been enough.

Raphael paused as well as he saw Leo look immediately unsure and awkward. Unsure and awkward just didn't suit Leonardo. He lifted a hand and pressed it against the side of Leo's face. It was a move Leo had been pulling on him repeatedly since their first kiss and sappy as it seemed, he loved it. He loved the physical contact as much as the intimacy provided by what seemed like such a small gesture. And he watched now as Leo appeared to melt against his hand. Seemed like Leo loved it too.

Plus, the hand on Leo's face gave him the ability to pull Leo's face forward and give him a quick kiss before he let his eyes roam over Leo again.

"You've done an awful lot of work," Raph said again, letting his other hand run down the front of Leo's wet plastron, "and I just wanted to say that I noticed. And to say that I'm gonna do some work too. I'm gonna do my best to listen first when ya talk," he stopped to grin at Leo, "and get angry later."

"And not run off?" Leo asked softly.

Raph's face lost the grin and he leaned down to nuzzle his face against Leo's. "And I'll try not to run off," he answered, "especially if yer gonna run right into trouble without me."

"I didn't mean to -,"

"I know," he said before he covered Leo's mouth again with a new urgency, and groaned as he felt Leo press up against him. His fingers went straight for Leo's tail this time and Leo practically shuddered against him even those his fingers had only lightly traced over the wagging appendage. His eyes lit up and he grinned at Leo.

"What?" Leo asked as he pressed himself further against Raphael until he heard Raph's shell scrape against the tile behind him.

Raph moved a hand back to Leo's cheek and brushed his thumb across the skin there. "Well, if that's gonna be your reaction to one little tail drag, then this is going to be a very fun night."

Leo tilted his head in Raph's hand, essentially rubbing his cheek against it before he turned back to Raphael, innocent expression in place.

"Oh? Why's that? Did we have plans for tonight?"

Raph's eyes narrowed at that falsely innocent face. It wasn't fair that he felt like he was burning from the inside out while Leo managed to look cool as a cucumber. He growled and flipped them, pressing Leo into the tiled wall, determined to heat up the other turtle. The water continued to stream down on the both of them, and the slickness gave Raph the courage to do what he'd been imagining doing since he'd cornered Leo that morning.

"Yeah, we got plans," Raph rumbled down to him before he kissed Leo again.

He kept one hand cupping Leo's face while the other trailed down to Leo's rear end. One finger circled Leo's entrance, and even though kissing, Raph watched Leo closely for a reaction. Leo's hips shifted towards him, which he decided was encouragement from Leo, and pushed in one fingertip. It slid in easily thanks to the water, but he watched as Leo's eyes squeezed shut.

"Keep going," Leo whispered, sensing Raph's hesitation. It felt strange, but it didn't hurt, and he wanted this. Wanted Raphael to claim him.

Raphael nuzzled the side of Leo's face before continuing. He moved his finger slowly, while continuing to watch Leo's reactions. He didn't trust Leo's face to show him if he was in pain, so he listened to the way Leo breathed and paid attention to the way Leo's fingers clenched around his arms. He pressed kisses to Leo's face, occasionally capturing his mouth and twisting his tongue with Leo's. He worked to stretch Leo there under the water, sure that he'd never be able to shower in there again without thinking of this very moment. He even barely noticed his own arousal until Leo's hips thrust forward to grind their lower plastrons together, reminding him of other areas that were needy for attention.

Then Leo startled. He jerked his head away from Raphael and glanced up at the water stream and Raph froze at the startled look on Leo's face. It was then that he noticed that they'd drained the hot water and cold water had begun to stream down on them.

"I got ya," Raph whispered to him. He had the water turned off and Leo wrapped in a towel in the next moment. He didn't want their mood ruined by thoughts of a tiny room filling with cold water, so he pressed himself against Leo again, and let his thumb drag down Leo's bulging slit.

There was an immediate churr from Leo as Raphael and his busy fingers became his sole focus once again.

"My room," Leo whispered.

Raph grinned and wrapped a towel around himself as well. He glanced at his gear but left it behind as Leo hurried him out of the bathroom and down the hall. Once in his room, Leo tossed the towel away while locking his door. Then he pulled Raph towards him and stripped Raphael of his towel as well.

Raphael chuckled at his frantic movements. "Ya got plans now, too, Fearless?"

"Just no patience when it comes to you," Leo murmured, reading Raph's amused thoughts. He rubbed himself against Raphael, doing his best to remind Raph of where they'd left off. But his eyes darted up to Raph's when Raph took a small cautious step back. Leo's heart sank as he was reminded of Raphael pulling away from him in the past.

Raph's eyes scanned over Leo's face once more as Leo's wide blue eyes stared questioningly back at him. All of Leo's body language already told him the answer, but this was Leo. His Leo. And he was going to ask the question anyway. "Are ya sure, Leo?" he whispered.

Leo released a breath of relief and surged forward to press into another desperate kiss with Raphael. He churred as Raph's hands landed on his ass again, and then began tugging Raphael with him as he moved across the room. He landed on his shell when he reached his bed and pulled Raphael down to land between his legs.

"I love you on top of me, Raph," Leo whispered up to him and Raphael stared down at him for only a moment before a churr rolled up his throat. He dipped his head and began moving his mouth across Leo's neck as Leo continued. "You're so strong, Raph. And warm."

Raphael shifted his hips and was immediately rewarded with the wonderful friction that only came from rubbing himself against Leonardo. Leo seemed to agree with a loud groan as he let his head fall backwards.

"And I'm safer here than anywhere else," Leo said, lifting his hips to grind against Raphael once more.

"Leo," Raph grit out and Leo smiled at the positive response.

His own patience gone, Raph dropped down and then nudged Leo to encourage him to do the same. Leo didn't hesitate to release himself either. He eyed the two of them for a swift moment before wrapping his hand around the both of them and giving one experimental tug without warning.

Raphael shuddered above him and dropped his head into Leo's neck. " _Jeezus_ , Fearless," he churred at the unexpected contact. "Don't do that again," he warned as he lifted his face out of Leo's neck, "unless you want to finish like this." Leo grinned at him, but wisely took his hand off the two of them, a hand Raphael quickly pinned to the bed. His only consolation was that Leo had moaned a moment ago as well, apparently also unprepared for how amazing they would feel together. "Do you have anything in here I can use on ya?"

"Use for what?"

Raphael growled at the picture of innocence below him. He heaved himself sideways and began digging through the drawer in Leo's bedside table while muttering about kicking Leo's ass when they were finished. His hand stilled a moment later and he leaned further across the bed until he could actually see in the drawer. A grin spread across his face before he turned back to Leo.

"You've got like six bottles of lube in here."

"How many times do I have to tell you how important it is to be prepared?"

"I had no idea yer boy scout tendencies would extend to this," Raphael said with a chuckle as he pulled out just one bottle and settled himself on his heels between Leo's thighs.

Leo had a grin on his own face but didn't respond further as he watched Raphael spread some of the liquid on his fingers. Raph's green eyes flickered up to Leo's before he returned his focused attention back to Leo's entrance. Between the lube and the earlier stretching, two fingers went in easily and Raph watched as Leo's eyes slid shut and his mouth dropped open after a few experimental swipes, the cold chill of the shower was surely forgotten by now.

As eager as he was to continue to the next step, Raphael paused again as he removed his fingers. This was going to hurt Leo, he was sure of it. And Leo had just said all that mushy shit about being safe beneath him.

"Leo, maybe _you'd_ rather -,"

His words were cut off as Leo sat up quickly and covered his mouth again for a kiss. Leo pulled the bottle of lube out of his hands. He knew it was coming, but Raph still startled for a moment when Leo's lube-covered hand began stroking him. He churred again as his head fell back at the sensation.

"Does that answer your question?" Leo whispered back to him.

Raphael surged forward, knocking Leo back on his shell and kissing him again as he guided himself to finally claim Leo as his own. He pushed forward gently, breaching the tight muscle and watched for a reaction from Leo just as he had done while they'd been in the shower.

Leo wanted to keep his face at least neutral, but immediately failed at that first burning stretch. He hissed out a breath and felt Raph still above him. "No," he said, already shaking his head, "don't stop there." Instinct told him to keep Raph moving. That holding still would only hurt more. "Just slow," he graveled out as Raph was already doing as he had asked.

Raphael pushed himself further into Leo's body, sucking in mouthfuls of air as he felt Leo's ass muscles spasm around him. He moved slowly until he was buried within Leo before he let his head drop to allow his forehead to rest on Leo's shoulder.

"Fuck," Raph drawled out, aware that the sound was practically a whimper. He was panting and doing his absolute best to hold still. He'd hold still until that tightness around Leo's eyes left. Until Leo's fingers loosened their death grip around his biceps. "I finally figured out where ya keep all yer fuckin body heat, Fearless."

Despite the sting, Leo had to huff out a short laugh at that. Then the sting was quickly forgotten as he felt one of Raph's hand wrap around his softened length. Raph's grip was tight and he stroked Leo slowly at first, encouraging him back to his previous hardness.

"There ya go," Raph murmured hoarsely down to him as he watched Leo's face relax and then morph into pleasure.

"Raph," Leo panted out to him and his hips jerked forward. He watched Raphael's eyes snap shut at the movement as a loud churr escaped him.

Raphael slowly pulled himself out of Leo and churred again as Leo lifted his hips to meet him as he pushed back in.

"Yesss," Leo moaned as the pressure from before was now one of pleasure as Raph repeated the movement.

Raphael moaned as well as he sped up his movements. Just like fighting or sparring, Raph noticed that it didn't take the two of them long to work out a steady rhythm together. Leo's inner walls were now sucking him in instead of trying to push him out and it was literally the best thing he'd ever felt in his entire life. He did his best not to let his hips take over as he continued to watch Leo's reactions. But when he hit a certain spot that had Leo nearly coming off the bed with a loud shout of pleasure, Raphael gave in and began frantically thrusting into Leonardo, doing his best to aim for that spot again. Leonardo soon became a writhing, moaning, needy creature beneath him and it was one of the best things he'd ever seen.

" _Raph_ ," Leo pleaded, meeting Raph's eyes with an urgent request in his own eyes.

Raphael sped up his hips and watched as Leo practically froze under him for a single moment before he fell over the edge with a hard finish.

"Fuuck," Raph moaned out again as Leo's muscles squeezed around him. He had no idea how Leo was even capable of being even tighter than he'd been moments before. " _Leo_ ," he moaned out as he shuddered above him with his own finish. He hovered over Leo and panted for a few moments until he felt Leo's hand slide up to the side of his face.

Leo lifted Raphael's face so that their eyes could meet. "I love you, Raph," he whispered, more relaxed and happy than he'd ever been before.

Raphael smiled down at him. He eased himself out of Leo and then rolled to his side, pulling Leo with him. "I love ya, too, Leo." He let Leo pull his face forward for another kiss before they both fell back against Leo's pillows and made solid attempts to catch their breaths.

Leo smiled as he realized Raph had situated them with himself closest to the door again.

The big lug.

* * *

 **A/N** : I hope you enjoyed some Raph and Leo _full contact_ (someone stop me). 


	18. Chapter 18

Mikey ducked his head in order to move through the window and into Woody's apartment. In the whole year that they'd been together, they'd always met in public places, including the rooftop of the pizzeria where Woody worked, the back room of Mr. Murakami's shop, or even certain secluded areas of Central Park.

But until today, they'd never been to each other's homes. He knew which building Woody lived in, but that's as far as it had gone. Keeping Woody a secret meant never bringing Woody back to the lair, and for that reason, he'd never pushed to see Woody's home. And Woody had never offered a tour.

Now he stood in the middle of Woody's very sparsely furnished main room and watched Woody run his fingers through his curly hair, causing it to poke out at odd angles. The room had an ancient couch and a television, as well as a table that had more knicks and dents than Mikey's shell. Not that the details were easy to spot given the single dimly lit overhead light. There was a small kitchenette to one side of the room and three doors on the other.

"Well, uh, this is it," Woody said. "That's the bathroom over there," he said, pointing to one of the doors. "I have three roommates. We were all kicked out of the system when we turned eighteen, so we got jobs to try to keep a roof over our heads. They're all at work now, so I thought maybe I could show you around."

Mikey nodded as Woody spoke and remembered Woody's comments about how warm his home in the sewer felt. This place might keep Woody safe from the elements, but it wasn't warm. Wasn't homey. Didn't _feel_ like Woody. Wasn't what he had been expecting.

"You don't have a game system," Mikey noted, feeling the need to say something.

"Oh, no I don't," Woody said, glancing over at the television where a gaming set would normally sit. "I usually play at a friend's place."

"Your room?"

Woody paused, feeling more than a little nervous about the look on Mikey's face, and then walked over to push open one of the other doors off the main room. Mikey followed and his previous images of how awesome Woody's bedroom must be disappeared as he looked around an equally sparsely-filled bedroom. There were two twin beds on opposite sides of the room. And not much else. Not even a dresser. Mikey recognized some of Woody's clothes neatly folded on the floor at the end of one of the beds, whereas his roommate's clothes were tossed randomly around the floor.

"No pictures."

"Well, I can't really put up a picture of you."

"This is where you live," Mikey said as he slowly turned in the middle of Woody's bedroom.

"Yeah, this is it."

"Where you live," Mikey repeated as he looked closely at the pillow where Woody's head went every night. "But not your home."

Woody shook his head slowly. He didn't have any clear memories of his first, real home. But he'd been in some foster homes that had felt like real homes. Not _his_ home, but real homes, nonetheless. Then there was Mikey's sewer home. A home built and maintained _in the sewer_ that felt homey and welcoming and everything else that Woody had come to love about Michelangelo.

Woody laughed in the next moment as he suddenly found himself in his small bed, on top of his favorite turtle. He returned Mikey's kiss and instinctually settled against him.

"How do you move that fast, turtle?"

Mikey's only response was to kiss Woody again and let his hands moved through Woody's curly hair.

"So, you're okay with this place?" Woody asked, confused by Mikey's sudden change in demeanor.

"This place keeps you safe and off the streets," Mikey said, pulling at the bottom of Woody's shirt until he had it lifted and over his head, "so I love it for that." He moved his hands to Woody's waistband and began pushing at the material. "But - ," he almost growled as he was forced to work at the button on Woody's jeans when the pants wouldn't budge otherwise, "- why do you wear all these clothes?"

"Human standards," Woody murmured as he lifted his hips to help Mikey get his jeans down. "But what?" he asked, reminding Mikey of what he'd been about to say.

"I can be where your home is, Woods."

Woody stilled his own movements and stared down into Mikey's big baby blues. "I've had that same thought about you for a while, Mikester," he whispered.

Mikey grinned and wiggled his shell further into the bed, rubbing himself against Woody in the process, causing Woody to moan and dip his own hips back against Mikey. He wondered if Woody's nose would be strong enough to smell his scent later when he was gone and Woody was sleeping here alone.

"How long do we have the place to ourselves?"

"Long enough for you to show me how fast you can actually move," Woody teased.

* * *

Leo barely had time to be disappointed that he woke up alone the next morning before his doorknob was turning and Raphael was slipping back into his room with the gear he'd abandoned in the bathroom the night before as well as a plate of food. He'd put on his mask, and little else, and he grinned when he spotted Leo awake.

"I didn't know if you'd want to, uh – move," Raph said as he waited for Leo to sit upright so he could hand off the food.

Leo accepted the plate, but didn't say anything as he stared up thoughtfully at Raphael as Raph dumped the rest of his gear on his bedroom floor.

"What?" Raph asked with a frown when he realized Leo was studying him. He stood by the side of Leo's bed and watched as Leo set the plate of food to the side and reached for him.

Leo's hand circled his bicep and he was pulled down on top of Leo as Leo's mouth greedily met his. Leo moaned into Raph's mouth and he slid back down on his shell so he could grind his lower plastron against Raphael's. Raphael churred in response as his earlier worries about how Leo would be feeling this morning vanished. He pushed his weight into Leo in order to eliminate all space between the two of them and moved his hips to grind back against Leo as their tongues twisted together.

Raph had to shift onto his knees and hands a few moments later when the pressure caused by Leo repeatedly rubbing up against him became too great and he let himself drop down with a deep moan. Leo was able to release himself as well with the loss of Raph's weight and he quickly wrapped his hand around both of them and began a steady stroking rhythm. Leo churred at the contact and resisted the urge to throw his head back in favor of keeping his eyes on Raphael's face. Raph's eyes were squeezed shut and he was panting and flushed and soon Leo was whispering up to him how amazing he looked. How he could stare at him all day. How he desperately wanted to run his tongue over the emerald biceps currently supporting Raphael as they rocked together.

"Fuuck, Leo," Raph groaned as he dipped his head to Leo's shoulder and let the heat building in his belly from Leo's stroking fingers consume him as Leo's words felt like they were being branded into his skin. "Leo," he grit out again and Leo's hand moved faster as he already recognized the warning tone in Raph's voice for what it was.

Leo smiled softly as he felt Raphael nuzzle aggressively into his neck. He responded again by thumbing the tips of them together and churred as the resulting sensation sent sparks through him. Raphael seemed to enjoy it as well, if his loud churr was to be believed. Raph dropped from his hands to his elbows and squeezed Leo between his arms as he groaned out his release. As he was pinned between those strong arms, Leo churred loudly as well and came with a sudden jerk, ecstatic once again to be safely restrained beneath the stronger turtle.

Raphael waited until Leo's convulsions stopped before he collapsed on top of him. He rested his head on Leo's plastron and listened to Leo's heart as it pounded away in his chest.

"Ya hungry yet?" Raph asked around his panting breaths. He smiled as a chuckle from Leo vibrated the armored chest beneath his cheek.

Leo picked up a slice of fruit from the plate next to them and lazily tossed it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, letting the juice of the watermelon slide down his parched throat.

"What were ya thinkin about earlier?" Raphael asked.

"That having you flushed above me is a nice way to start the day."

Now it was Raphael's turn to chuckle and he did so while raising his head to slowly shake it at the turtle beneath him.

" _Before_ that, Fearless."

Leo tilted his head at Raph and considered whether or not to actually share his earlier thoughts. Raph was getting pretty good at reading him, he realized. Add that to the hothead's stubbornness for answers and he was either going to have to develop a better poker face around Raphael or get more comfortable with sharing. For now, he decided he may as well go with the latter.

"I had wondered if sensei was so accepting of us because he didn't want another generation of brothers fighting," Leo said, slowly. He let one of his thumbs trace and press into Raph's bicep, relishing in the way the solid muscle shifted slightly under the pressure. "But sensei said that he's never had that concern, because the four of us are more closely bonded than he and his brother ever were. And I, uh, I just had the thought earlier that I doubt our former enemy ever brought anyone breakfast in bed." Leo watched half of Raph's mouth quirk up. "I just – I don't ever see anything getting between us," he added.

"Damn straight," Raph murmured as he rubbed himself against Leo again, resulting in a shiver from the other turtle. "Ya know we're bonded. And," he couldn't help but add with a grin, "after last night, ya can say we fit together." He watched Leo huff out a breath and then nudged his face against Leo's. "We do, right? Yer feelin okay this mornin?"

Leo slid a hand up against the side of Raph's face and pulled him down to kiss him again. "Yes, Raph. I'm all in one piece." He kissed Raph again when he saw relief in those green eyes. "Although, I'm going to feel even better after a shower. Do you think a shower before practice will be suspicious?"

"They're just gonna have to get used to it," Raph said with a wide grin.

Leo's mouth quirked up in a grin as well. "You're probably right."

Raphael's arms tightened around Leo and he leaned down to bite into Leo's neck. "Say that again."


	19. Chapter 19

"Can you get this from the other side?"

Casey grunted and tugged from his angle. "I believe the technical term for this is the _left side_ ," he murmured.

"The technical term, huh?"

"Yeah, I don't want to brag, but I know lots of stuff."

Donnie twisted his head to eye Casey where he stood a few feet away below the raised party wagon they were working on.

"You do, you know," Donnie said.

"Do what?"

"You do know lots of stuff." He watched a flicker of doubt work across the hockey player's usually cocky exterior. "I certainly don't let anyone else touch the vehicles."

Casey paused for a moment as Donnie went back to work. It was true, he'd never seen anyone else in here working with Donnie on maintenance, although he didn't realize it was because Donnie declined the help.

"Hey, Case?"

He turned back to Donnie and watched as Donnie glanced at him quickly before his eyes returned to the van's undercarriage.

"Why not Raph?"

"Huh?" Casey asked.

Donnie lowered his arms from where he was working and turned towards the clearly confused human. He swallowed. "Why not Raphael?"

Casey lowered his arms as well as he slowly realized what Donnie was asking him.

"Gross, D."

"What?"

"Wait, not _gross_ ," Casey said, lowering his voice and quickly glancing around the empty garage before continuing. "I just mean, it's different with Raph. He's like my _twin_ , ya know? And he's not the one I've been watchin these past couple years."

Donnie blinked. "You've been watching me for years?"

Casey nodded. "Ya were too busy watching April to notice." Casey turned back to the van and with another grunt, which did something to Donnie's stomach, he finally yanked off the stubborn valve cap he'd been after. "I mean I get it," Casey continued. "Red's amazing. There's not another girl on the planet like her." He turned back to Donnie. "Course, there's not another guy like you, either. So I'm currently countin myself as pretty damn lucky."

Donnie closed the space between them and pulled Casey in close to kiss him. Because an admission like that deserved a reward. And because he liked the surprised groan he always earned from Casey when he kissed him without warning.

"Plus, Raph's kind of short," Casey murmured against Donnie's mouth, "but don't tell him I said that, cause he'll pummel me."

Donnie chuckled as he lifted a hand to run some of Casey's black hair through his fingers. It was still slightly damp from the shower Casey must've taken before coming over and he listened as the touch pulled a pleasant noise from Casey.

Casey responded by leaning forward to kiss Donatello again, instantly pleased when Donnie's eyes closed as he returned the kiss. Donnie's hands landed on his waist and he released an excited grunt when one of those large hands began to move towards the front of his jeans. But then Donnie seemed to realize what he was doing and pulled his hands away quickly.

"You know, this one time," Casey murmured around his disappointment, "April and I switched bodies."

Donnie shook his head and took a step backwards. "For two minutes before I switched you back."

"Long enough for me to check out a few things while she wasn't looking."

"Pervert."

Casey grinned as he listened to Donnie's teasing voice. "I'm just trying to point out that April has had first hand experience with my junk, but you haven't."

"I don't think I'd count that as first hand experience," April said dryly as she joined them in the garage.

"Just because you didn't take advantage of the situation - ,"

"No," April said, crossing her arms over her chest. She had a hard time ever being truly mad at Casey, but she could at least do her best to appear to be. Casey leaned in and kissed her, immediately killing her scowl. "I can't possibly study any longer today. You two finished yet? I want to go to bed."

Donnie and Casey simultaneously stilled and exchanged a glance, confirming that her suggestive tone of voice had been heard by the both of them.

"We, uh, we can't all three fit in my bed here," Donnie said, already wiping his hands clean on a rag.

"No, we can't," April said, "which I assume you'll remedy soon? But for tonight, my dad is visiting his sister and my bed is big enough. So you ready to go?"

"Yup," Casey said, grabbing both their hands and charging out of the room as he pulled them both behind him.

* * *

Woody whistled as locked up the front door of the pizzeria at the end of the night. He wiped down the tables and mopped the floor before moving back to the kitchen. He packed up the four leftover pizzas from the day and smiled as he thought of how happy Mikey was going to be when he saw them.

He turned out the lights and headed out the back door. He made sure to pull the door shut all the way, jimmying it the way his boss had shown him, and then turned the key in the lock. Mikey had stopped by earlier during his break and had wanted to stay nearby for the rest of his shift so that he could walk him down to the lair at the end of his shift. But he'd sent Mikey home since he thought it was silly for Mikey to sit around outside all day, plus Woody wanted to see if he could find the way to the lair on his own this time. So he continued to whistle as he picked up the stack of pizza boxes he'd set on the ground and turned to head out of the dark alley towards the closest manhole cover.

Loud growling stopped him. Not that he could've gone anywhere as he was surrounded by snarling, four-legged creatures. He backed up into the pizzeria's door and fumbled to get the key back out.

"You smell like turtle," a creepy voice growled out.

* * *

She'd gone into her bathroom to change into her yellow nightgown, although the modesty seemed kind of silly to her considering her intentions for the night. When she reentered her bedroom, Casey was already sprawled out on one side of the bed in just his boxers with his head propped up in his hands, while Donnie, who had removed all his gear, stood near her desk, examining some of her notes from her classes that day.

She smiled as she looked back and forth between the two of them and then flicked off her light. The light streaming in through her window from the city provided some illumination to allow her to easily find Donnie's hand in the darkened room. She climbed into the bed beside Casey, and pulled Donnie in behind her.

The two males had a habit of being slightly more aggressive with each other than they were with her. This wasn't something that bothered her most of the time. But tonight she was ready to push their buttons to get what she wanted.

Once Donnie had settled on his side next to her, she immediately pulled him in close to kiss him. Since Casey was typically always _ready_ , Donnie was the perfect bedmate to start with. And she wasted no time now as she slid her tongue into his mouth and let her hands slide down to rub over his plastron's secret slit.

Donnie groaned into April's mouth as one of his large hands landed on her hip and squeezed. Casey licked his lips as he watched the two of them. He let his own hand run down April's back until he could cup her ass in his hand and give it a squeeze. April responded by shifting her hips back in encouragement as her own hand continued to rub over the bulge growing on Donnie.

Donnie's hand was getting tighter on her hip and his own hips were beginning to shift towards her. She pulled Donnie's hand off her hip and pressed it against her breast, then shuddered against him even though she'd initiated the touch. Donnie pulled away from their kiss in order to focus on where his hand had been placed. His mouth dropped open before his eyes flickered up to April's eyes.

April's eyes met his steadily and she shifted her upper body towards him. He refocused on the soft round mound beneath his fingers and gave a soft squeeze. April huffed out a sharp breath, leaning towards him once again while shoving her ass back towards Casey again. Donnie watched her eyes slide shut before he let his thumb slide over where her nipple was poking through the thin nightgown.

The moan that escaped her at that slight touch was throaty and primal. Donnie's eyes immediately met Casey's, and both of them knew it would be their new mission in life to hear that noise again. Casey pulled on April's shoulder, rolling her to her back while Donnie pulled down the front of her nightgown in order to let his thumb move over her actual nipple.

April moaned again, louder, and her legs automatically spread as her head rolled back on her pillow. Donnie and Casey both shifted even closer to her, both hungrily listening to the sounds she made as Donnie continued to rub his thumb back and forth.

"Ya found one of April's sweet spots," Casey huffed out, letting his own hand slide up to claim the other breast.

April moaned and arched. The movement did something to Donnie's gut and he dipped his head to replace his thumb with his tongue.

"Oh, shell, Donnie," she gasped as he began to alternate between licking and sucking.

Donnie churred at the sound of his name leaving her mouth in a moan like that. Her hips began to thrust upwards and Casey groaned just watching them before he dipped his head as well and let his mouth go to work. April's hands landed on the backs of their heads, her moans grew louder, and she was vaguely aware that her hips were repeatedly thrusting upwards, a movement she felt like she had absolutely no control over.

"Please," she finally moaned, not even sure what she was asking for from them.

Donnie's hand moved automatically at the plea. He slid his hand under the end of her nightgown and slid his fingers slowly up towards her underwear. Or at least where her underwear should be. He pulled his mouth away from her breast for only a moment, shocked more than he'd ever been in his life to suddenly find that his fingers were touching April's bare skin. April moaned loudly again at that slight touch and thrust towards his fingers. Donnie's eyes met Casey's once again and he got an encouraging nod from Casey before Casey refocused on April's breast.

Donnie slid his fingers up and then down. She was coating his finger in fluid and if he took a deep breath in, he could smell the arousal coming off not only her, but himself and Casey as well. It was an amazing combination that led to another loud churr from him. He landed his mouth on April's in a hard kiss before letting one of his fingers dip into her.

April practically arched off the bed as she felt him fill her up with just one of his huge fingers. "Yeees," she moaned, thrusting her hips up again.

Casey pulled his mouth away from her breast and pushed her nightgown up with one hand to see what he was missing down there. "Oh fuck," he whispered as he watched Donnie's finger move in and out of April. He let one hand take over massaging April's nipple while the thumb on his other hand moved to find another sweet spot.

"Casey!" April yelped as his thumb massaged over her clit. She ground herself further down on Donnie's finger and writhed on the bed between them. Donnie's mouth moved back to her other breast and a moment later she was screaming through an orgasm that hit her harder than anything she'd ever felt.

She fell limp to the bed as their mouths and fingers reluctantly left her. Both males stared down at her, both still mesmerized by the sounds she had made and the way her face was beautifully pink in the dim light.

"You're amazing, April," Donnie whispered down to her.

"Fuckin amazing," Casey added with a grin.

"I'm not - the only one," she panted out. She shifted slightly on the bed and reopened her eyes to look back at both of them. Her eyes traveled down to the obvious erection in Casey's boxers before looking over at Donnie, who had dropped out of his private pouch at some point. "And we're not finished yet. Lose the boxers, Jones."

Casey chuckled. "Yer pretty pushy, Red."

"I'm going to side with April this time," Donnie said, his voice a husky growl as he reached over for the bottom hem of Casey's boxers. He pulled the boxers down in one swift movement, finally getting his first eyeful of Casey Jones' _junk_ as he'd termed it earlier that night.

Casey shifted uncomfortably for a moment as they both seemed to just stare at him.

"Well, it's not Donnie-sized," he murmured, "but -." He sucked in a breath as Donnie's palm slid up the length of him.

"Shut up, Jones," Donnie murmured, letting his hand slide back down without applying any real pressure yet.

"D," Casey groaned back, shifting himself forward, already needy for Donnie's tight grip.

"You know, Case, I've had years of grip training on a staff."

"Oh hell, Donnie," Casey said, narrowing his eyes up at the amusement he could see in Donnie's brown eyes.

April giggled, still feeling euphorically high from their earlier touches. She finally readjusted her nightgown and then rolled towards Donnie again, leaving Casey to be taken care of by Donnie and his master grip.

Donnie churred as April rolled into him and began to rub and squeeze her fingers over him. His arm layered over her hip and he finally decided to stop teasing Casey and give him the same treatment he was receiving from April.

"Jeezus, Don," Casey groaned out as those callused fingers finally wrapped around him and started tugging. He rolled onto his own back, letting one hand rest on April's hip as he began to thrust his hips upwards.

April leaned up and kissed Donnie again, pleased that he was still able to easily churr even through their kisses. His churrs and Casey's groans were filling her room with an amazing soundtrack of sounds.

"April," Donnie groaned into her mouth as his resolve to hold out snapped. He felt a moment of euphoria before coming hard against her.

The gravelly sound of Donnie's groan, combined with the hand that never stopped or loosened its grip over him, had Casey quickly following him.

The next several moments were filled with just soft panting as the three settled against each other. April rolled in order to kiss Casey before she wrapped an arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder as Donnie managed to wrap one of his arms around the both of them.

"I have decided," Donnie murmured sleepily, "that I will upgrade my bed as soon as possible."

Casey chuckled and let one hand land on top of Donnie's hand.

"Let us know when it's ready," he murmured back. "We'll come test it out for you."


	20. Chapter 20

"Like, not everyone could've been kung fu fighting, right?"

"Wait, who was kung fu fighting?

" _Everybody_ apparently."

"Why? Was it a battle?"

Mikey laughed. "No, it was a song. One of the best selling singles of all time!"

Karai stared at him blankly from the other end of the couch.

"You have heard of _songs_ , right?"

Karai's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, okay," Mikey said with another laugh. "Here, I'll pull it up for you to hear. Just make sure you don't play it around Leo," he said, pulling out his T-phone. "It gets stuck in his head and he'll walk around the lair singing it for days, although, he likes to insert the word _ninjitsu_ in place of kung fu."

Karai felt an actual grin grow on her face as she watched the youngest turtle mumble about ninjitsu being the wrong number of syllables for the line in the song. He was currently the only brother home with her and had invited her out of her room to eat dinner with him and Woody, who they were still waiting on. She had to admit, Michelangelo was incredibly easy to be around. She thought part of it was due to the fact that he had no expectations of her except for her to listen to his stories. And maybe laugh here and there.

She watched him as he stared down at his T-phone for a moment, and although he'd said he was going to pull up the song for her, his large green fingers weren't currently moving.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Mikey's eyes moved up to Karai's face and then back down to the clock on his T-phone. He stood from the couch and hit Woody's speed dial.

Karai sat and watched as Mikey fidgeted while he waited for someone to pick up. When no one seemed to answer, he turned and headed towards the lair's exit.

"Wait, where are you going?" she called out, jumping up to follow him.

"I'm gonna find him."

"Find who?"

"He's probably just lost in the tunnels."

"Woody?" Karai asked, trying to keep up with Mikey's train of thought.

He nodded and she kept pace next to him through the first tunnel. She thought about staying back and letting him meet up with his friend by himself, but Mikey looked a little _off_ , and she decided against letting him go by himself.

* * *

He groaned and shuddered through their kiss as Leo's fingers continued to squeeze and slide up and down his tail.

They'd gone for a run and Raph was pretty sure Leo had intended to actually run. But once they were far enough away from the lair, he'd pulled Leo into a side tunnel and was already kissing him before he'd even gotten Leo's shell shoved into a wall.

Leo's fingers tightened once more on his tail and Raph grabbed the wrist of the teasing fingers and pinned Leo's hand to the wall. The rough treatment actually pulled a throaty moan from Leo that heated Raph's insides. He moved his mouth and bit into Leo's neck, earning himself a repeat of that same throaty groan. _Christ_.

"Leo," he groaned. He pinned Leo's other hand to the wall and Leo groaned again and moved to rub his lower plastron against Raphael. "Yer driving me crazy with that noise, Fearless," he gruffed out. "Ya like it rough?"

Leo hummed. "Why do you think I like sparring with you so much?"

"Cause you like bein pinned beneath me?"

Leo growled at Raph's tease and Raphael chuckled. After all, Leo gave as good as he got in the dojo.

"Yer not puttin up much of a fight right now, though," Raph said, glancing at Leo's pinned hands. He knew Leo could get out of this if he wanted to, but the other turtle wasn't even trying.

Leo shook his head slowly and kissed what he could reach of Raph's face. "I don't want to fight you here," he murmured.

Raphael moved his mouth back to Leo's mouth and thought about what Leo said while he rubbed their lower plastrons together. He faintly heard something buzzing, but ignored it until Leo forced one of his wrists free to pull his T-phone off his belt.

"Mikey?" Leo said as he pressed the phone to his ear and did his best to sound as normal as possible while Raphael growled at the interruption and continued to rub up against him.

But Raphael frowned and pulled away from Leo when Mikey's frantic tone of voice exploded out of Leo's phone and reached his own ears.

"Wait, wait," Leo said, straightening himself away from where Raph had had him pressed into the tunnel wall in order to stand up straight. His face was already set in a stern expression as he tried to decipher what Mikey was saying through the hysteria. "Who chewed on the pizza boxes?"

Raphael tilted his head. If Mikey was interrupting his alone time with Leo over some ruined pizza boxes –

"I doubt Woody would chew on pizza boxes," Leo said before pulling the phone away from his head as Mikey's voice escalated to a new level of frantic.

Leo pressed the phone back to his ear as he heard Karai's voice suddenly come on the line. His frown grew deeper as she tried to calmly explain what they were looking at outside the pizzeria.

"Okay, please go with him. I'll send Raph to you." Leo tucked his phone back into his belt and was immediately met by a frown from Raph.

" _We_ were busy," Raph said. "What does the doofus want?"

"He says Woody is missing," Leo answered and watched as Raph's expression of annoyance turned to one of immediate concern. "Something happened with pizza boxes at the pizzeria? I'm going to head up there to check it out."

"Then I'm goin with ya."

"No," Leo said as he headed back down their tunnel to get to the closest manhole cover. "You head to Woody's apartment. That's where Mikey and Karai are headed."

"So they're already paired up. Ya ain't goin off alone, Leo -,"

"Raph, listen," Leo said, stopping suddenly in order to turn to the other turtle, "Mikey is hysterical and Karai doesn't know how to handle him right now. But you do," he said, poking a finger into Raph's plastron. "So I need you there. I'll call Donnie and have him meet me at the pizzeria. If Woody is not at his apartment, you bring Mikey home. Okay?"

Raphael continued to glower but slowly nodded in agreement.

Leo pulled his T-phone out again and headed down a tunnel away from Raphael. "I'll call Donnie right now, and if you -,"

He was spun around by strong hands on his shoulders and kissed again before Raph growled and turned to stomp off in the other direction.

* * *

Donnie shifted and pulled his arm slowly off both April and Casey as he heard his T-phone buzz across the room. He moved slowly off the bed and carried the phone into the hallway before answering.

When he returned to April's room a few moments later, he was surprised to find April pulling on pants and Casey sitting on the edge of the bed tying his shoes.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said and caught his elbow pads as Casey tossed them to him.

April pulled her hair up into a ponytail and moved to open her window. She stood there waiting as Donnie geared up and Casey adjusted his hockey bag over his shoulder before throwing more gear in Donnie's direction.

Donnie had a small smile as he moved towards the window as well. If this was his new life, he could certainly get used to it. Because even though he'd grown up in a group with his brothers, a group that was always going to be there for each other, there was something about the way that he, Casey, and April moved together that had always seemed rather natural to him. He'd noticed it previously out on patrols. And he'd certainly noticed it earlier in April's bed.

So really, it didn't surprise him that the other two were up and moving even though it was the middle of the night. That they were automatically going where he was going. That they were moving through the window to the fire escape with no questions asked.

* * *

Karai raised her hand and knocked on the apartment door. She took in a deep breath to calm herself, still feeling rattled over seeing a slightly hysterical Michelangelo.

Raph had met them on the rooftop across the street and she'd watched in slight amazement as the typically gruff Raphael had quickly pulled the frantic little turtle into a hug until he was finally able to explain what they had found at the pizzeria. Then he was able to explain which windows they were currently trying to look in to see if Woody was home. But the window coverings were blocking their view, which was only serving to increase Mikey's panic. But Raph had refocused Mikey again by asking for the layout of Woody's apartment and anything he knew about its other occupants.

Which left Karai standing outside the apartment, waiting for someone to answer.

The door swung open soon after she'd knocked by a young man. A young man with bright red hair that immediately captured her attention.

"Can I help you?"

She snapped her eyes away from his hair and reminded herself why she was here.

"I'm looking for Woody. Does he live here?"

The redhead frowned at her which had her immediately frowning back.

"Woody is my roommate," he finally said, almost smiling at her mirrored response. "But he's not here. He sent me a text earlier that he was headed to a friend's house after work."

"Well, he's not at work and he didn't make it to our home," Karai said. "Is there anywhere else he might've gone?"

The redhead was frowning again while he pulled his cell phone and immediately dialed Woody's number.

"We tried that," she offered, although she could tell he was going to let it ring until Woody's voicemail picked up, the same thing Michelangelo had been doing for the last hour or so.

"You're the friend he was going to see?" the redhead asked as he listened to the phone ring in his ear. "I always thought Woody's friend was a guy."

"He's friends with my brother."

"So why isn't your brother here looking for him?" he asked as he hit the end button at the sound of Woody's voicemail message.

"He's _out_ looking for him," she said, feeling immediately defensive of Michelangelo. "I said I'd check here."

The young man's eyes moved back to her face at the sharp tone in her voice. He recognized the tone because he'd always felt a certain brotherly protectiveness of Woody, much like she was currently displaying for her own brother. He'd met Woody when they'd both been placed in the same foster home a few years ago, before he'd aged out of system and had to leave Woody behind there. But they'd kept in touch and he'd quickly joined forces with Woody and their other two roommates once Woody had aged out as well.

He pushed the door open further and nodded for her to follow him, which she quickly did, if only so she could scan the place herself to make sure Woody was not inside.

"It's not that big a place," he said, watching her. "I think I'd notice if he was here or not."

Her phone rang before she could respond and she immediately heard Mikey's voice on the other end.

"Anything?"

"He's not here," she said gently. She looked back to the other in the room. "Any ideas?"

He shook his head at her. "I can make a few calls but he's kind of stopped hanging out with our friends lately in order to hang out with your brother."

"His roommate is going to make some phone calls to look for him," she said into the phone to Mikey.

"We need to go back to the pizzeria," Mikey said, looking over to Raph. "If he didn't make it here, then we need to go back there and look for some clues or something."

"Leo wants you home after this," Raph said in a low voice.

" _Home_?" Mikey said in a shout that had Karai pulling the phone away from her ear. "I'm not going _home_ , Raphael! Not with Woody out here somewhere! You didn't see the pizza boxes!"

"I'll meet back up with you in a minute," Karai said quickly before ending the call.

"He sounds pretty upset," the redhead said with a frown as he could feel his own worry for Woody growing.

"Just – take my number and call me if you find out anything, okay?"

"Fine," he said, pulling his phone out so he could enter her number into it. "But only if you do the same. What's your name?"

"Karai," she said while entering the number he gave her into her own phone. She looked up at him expectantly a moment later.

"I'm Sam."

* * *

 A/N: If you read my Promise series, then you probably recognize Sam as Dr. Chaplin. I couldn't find his actual first name when I introduced him in "Excursions", so I had to make one up.  


	21. Chapter 21

Leo crouched in the alley and picked up a few pieces of cardboard that had the pizzeria's logo on it. The pizza boxes hadn't been ripped apart. They'd been _chewed_ apart and he believed he finally understood what Mikey had been trying to tell him. He moved to examine the back door of the pizzeria. There were a few scratches on the door, but it was otherwise tightly locked.

He picked the lock anyway and crept into the pizzeria. The kitchen was dark and quiet and he didn't see any sign of Woody. He moved silently out towards the main dining room and was looking around when he was suddenly tackled to the ground from behind.

He grunted as he landed on his plastron and felt an unbelievably heavy weight on his shell.

"Wait, Leo?" a familiar voice said from above him.

Leo twisted onto his shell as the heavy weight suddenly lifted from him and stared up at his attacker. "Slash?"

"I-I thought you were Raphael," Slash said, standing fully and offering a hand to pull the other leader turtle to his feet. "Why do you smell like Raphael?"

"Is that how you normally greet him?" Leo asked, ignoring Slash's question while he rolled his shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"Leo?" Donnie said, entering the pizzeria from the back door with Casey and April close behind him. "Anything in here?"

"Just Slash," Leo said. "What are you doing here?" he repeated to the larger turtle.

"I've been tracking some organized dog activity," Slash said.

"Organized _dog_ activity?" April repeated slowly, thinking about the chewed up pizza boxes they'd just passed at the back door. It certainly did look like a pack of dogs had been here.

"Organized like what? They're all sitting at the same time?" Casey asked with a grin.

"Why didn't you call us if there's been organized activity around the city?" Leo asked.

"You just took down the Shredder," Slash said with a small shrug. "We figured we could keep an eye on the activity and pull you in later. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for a friend," Leo said with a frown as he turned to Donnie. "Does this make any sense?"

"Well, dogs are pack animals," Donnie said. "And I suppose they could be involved in an organized crime spree _if_ they had a pack leader who knew what he was doing."

"Being a mutant dog would probably qualify someone to be a pack leader, right?" Leo said, crossing his arms as he thought.

"Rahzar?" Slashed asked, following Leo's train of thought.

"And if it is Rahzar," Leo said, "do we think the dogs just happened to go after Woody because he was carrying food, or do you think Rahzar knows Woody is connected to us?"

Donnie's face was grim as he considered the options. "Dogs have a very good sense of smell. Did Mikey see Woody today?"

Leo nodded and continued to think as he faintly heard Slash ask who Woody was. Leo began to head back through the kitchen as April filled Slash in on Mikey's relationship with the pizzeria worker. There were no signs of a struggle anywhere inside the restaurant, which there surely would be if the bad guy in this situation was an entire pack of dogs.

He stepped silently back into the alley and froze when he saw a dog sniffing around the pizza box remnants. _Maybe_ , he thought _, it could be as easy as following a dog back to the pack_. The dog's head perked up and he suddenly took off down the alley. Leo glanced behind him at the pizzeria's back door before moving quickly to follow.

He kept to the shadows as the dog was able to run freely down the New York City sidewalks. But he kept up and was soon rewarded with a rundown warehouse. They rounded a corner of the building and Leo watched as the dog traveled through an actual doggie door installed in a side entrance door.

He frowned. He certainly wasn't fitting through there. He climbed up the side of the building and slid through a window.

"I have some food," Rahzar was saying.

Leo leaned further and finally spotted Woody, sitting stiffly in a chair. He wasn't bound, but he was surrounded by a lot of dogs sitting guard around him.

"No thank you," Woody said, slowly. He eyed the large mutant dog who had grabbed him earlier. He was scarier looking than anything Woody had ever seen before, but so far he had only paced back and forth in front of Woody. Woody pulled his feet up into the chair, and away from the other normal-looking dogs who sat staring and occasionally growling at him.

"I'd rather you be comfortable," the large mutant dog said.

"I'd be more comfortable at home," Woody said in a low voice.

"Well, you cannot go home until the turtles get here."

"You have pet dogs and pet turtles?"

Leo grinned as he listened to Woody's calm voice despite the fear he could see on the human's voice. He shifted across the rafters and positioned himself over the two of them.

"These dogs are not my pets. They are my brothers. And based on the amount of turtle pheromone I can smell on you, you know that the turtles are not pets either. I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"Turtles are pretty slow creatures. I'm guessing we'll be waiting a long time."

Rahzar leaned towards Woody and Leo reacted, pulling his swords as he dropped down from the rafters to land in between the mutant dog and where Woody sat. He watched as Rahzar immediately took a few steps away from him and glanced around, clearly expecting a few more turtles to drop from the rafters. The dogs around them jumped to their feet and stood growling, but didn't move towards them.

"You okay?" Leo asked, although he didn't turn to look at Woody behind.

"Yes."

"Good. Now stop antagonizing your captor."

"Now you may leave," Rahzar said, leaning around Leo to speak to Woody.

"Don't move," Leo said, glancing down at the dogs around them.

"I haven't harmed him," Rahzar said to Leo. "I just wanted to get your attention."

"Why?" Leo asked.

Rahzar watched as Leo's hands tightened around his katana and took another small step away from Leo as the image of the blue-clad turtle beheading Shredder flashed in his mind. The dogs around him sensed his unease and began to growl and crowd towards the turtle. He issued his own low growl and the dogs settled and reluctantly sat back down in their spots.

"Look," Rahzar said. "With Shredder gone and the Foot disbanded, my career opportunities have dwindled."

"Career opportunities?"

"Before Shredder found me, I had a dojo. I taught students. I had a small film career. I'd like to go back to that."

"And you think we can help you with that?"

"I know you can."

"Why would we want to?"

"Because you're the good guys and it's the right thing to do, isn't it?" Rahzar said. " _And_ if I'm human, you won't ever see me again."

"There are better ways to go about this than kidnapping someone to be used as bait."

"Your phone numbers are not exactly listed."

Leo frowned at him and he raised his hands up in his own defense.

"Look, I was getting desperate. I've been looking for you all for weeks. I happened upon Mikey's scent at that pizzeria by accident."

Leo stared at him for another moment and turned to eye Woody. Woody didn't look hurt. And so far, Rahzar hadn't made any moves to attack him, even though he was outnumbered given the number of guard dogs surrounding them. He sheathed one sword and used his free hand to pull his T-phone to call Donnie.

" _Where_ did you go?" Donnie voice asked immediately when he answered.

"Donnie, I found Woody with Rahzar. I'll send you the address. Can you bring retromutagen?"

"You what? Where?"

" _Retromutagen_ , Donnie?"

"Yes, I always have some on me."

"Wait, really? Why? Never mind. Just bring it here, okay? We'll talk about that later."

He hung up with Donnie and quickly texted him their location while shaking his head.

"He's on his way," Leo said. "Do you think maybe you could call off the dogs?"

Rahzar nodded and made a strange growling noise in his throat that had every dog in the room stand and scamper off. Woody stood slowly from his chair to stand next to Leo as the dogs left. Leo sent Rahzar a questioning look.

"I sent them all home. To their own homes."

Leo took Woody by the arm and moved them across the room. He wanted to get Woody out of there but there was no way he was leaving when Donnie was on his way to them. Making a deal with Rahzar didn't mean he trusted him enough to leave him alone with his brother.

"You stay," he said as Rahzar tried to follow them. Rahzar stopped in his tracks and frowned at him. "Not a dog joke," Leo said. "But still, just stay over there."

Then he dialed Raphael so he could relay to him and Mikey that he had Woody with him. Although, he noted an uncomfortable feeling as he dialed since he knew how Raph would feel about him being here alone. But before Raph could pick up, there was a loud "Booyaaakaashaa!" as Mikey appeared in the warehouse with Raph, Karai, and an unknown human trailing behind him.

"Mike!" Woody called out. Even though Leo had already freed him from the dog mutant, he felt his chest loosen at the sight of his freckled turtle there to save him.

"Woody?" Mikey said, swinging around towards Woody's voice. His eyes scanned over his curly-haired human and he sprinted over to them and scooped Woody up in a hug.

Raphael ignored the reunion and continued his charge towards Rahzar, at least at until he heard Leo yelling at him to stand down.

"What? Why?" Raphael asked, his face twisted in confusion as he stood with both sais drawn just a few feet from Rahzar.

"I've made a deal with him," Leo said. "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

"Thanks for _telling me_ you had Woody, Leo," Mikey said, cutting his eyes towards Leo as he continued to hug Woody into his plastron.

"I was just about to call you, Mike," Leo said, lifting the phone he still had in his hand and waving it at him as proof. "What are you doing here?" he asked again. He turned his glare towards Raphael. "I told you to take him home."

"Yeah, cause he was gonna go home with Woody still missin," Raph said, crossing his arms over his plastron and frowning back at Leo. "And why were we goin home? To regroup together? Cause it looks like yer here by yerself."

"And who is that?" Leo asked loudly, pointing at the redheaded human who stood staring at the rest of them from a spot next to Karai.

"This is Sam," Karai said. "Woody's roommate who apparently put a tracker on Woody's phone. That's how we found you."

"You did what?" Woody asked, pulling away from Mikey to glance over at his roommate.

Sam shrugged and finally found his voice. "It was a little invention I came up with for a class project and I wanted to see if it worked, so I stuck it in your phone and our other roommates' phones. It was a long time ago and I almost forgot about it."

"Well, I guess it came in handy," Woody said, wrapping his hands back around Mikey's arms to pull him in close again.

"I got an A on the project."

"Here is your phone, by the way," Rahzar said, offering up the phone he'd pulled off the human earlier. 

Mikey left Woody behind in order to cross the room and swipe Woody's phone from Rahzar's hand. Then he swung his free hand around and punched Rahzar in his snout, sending the large dog back a few steps with a yelp. Leo's, Raph's, and Karai's eyes were wide as they watched Mikey turn and practically skip back to Woody's side.

* * *

 **A/N** : No dogs were harmed in the making of this chapter.


	22. Chapter 22

Donnie warned that since he'd been mutated twice, turning him back into a human might require more than once dose. But thankfully, Rahzar was turned easily back into Bradford. A naked Bradford, which made Karai smirk if only because the sight turned Sam's face a bright red. Funny how he took meeting a bunch of mutants with ease but was so easily flustered by the sight of the large naked man.

Donnie then agreed to find a new method for transporting his retromutagen around the city with him, especially after his lecture from Leo about carrying retromutagen casually in his belt, a retromutagen that could reverse his own mutation if its vial was broken during a fight. He supposed Leo was right, but they routinely ran into mutants who wanted to be changed back, and it had just become easier to carry the stuff around.

Then Donnie told his brothers that he was staying at April's that night before volunteering to make sure Sam got home safely, which was fun for Donnie since he wanted to ask Sam more about the phone tracking system he'd created. April and Casey rolled their eyes but smiled as they trailed behind the two new friends who managed to talk tech all the way back to Sam's apartment.

Leo led Mikey, Woody, Karai, and Raphael back to the lair. Raphael frowned at Leo's shell as Leo actually led them, and refused to look at or speak to Raphael all the way back. Karai shrugged her shoulders at him when they reached their home and disappeared off to her own room.

Raphael watched Mikey pull Woody off to his room. For having been kidnapped and held as bait, Woody seemed to be doing okay. But he'd leave him to Mikey to worry about. He had his own problems, starting with the fact that he was suddenly standing alone in the pit. He hadn't even heard Leo leave the room.

He turned and headed directly to Leo's room, which was where he'd spent almost every night since they'd returned from the farmhouse, and found Leo already in bed. He was over on his side, which left room for Raphael, but he was facing the wall with his shell to the door. And to Raphael.

Raph pushed his gear off anyway and settled down in the bed. He waited a few moments, but Leo didn't say anything, even though Raph could tell he was awake, nor did he turn over.

"Yer really gonna shell block me right now?"

Leo made a disgruntled noise and still refused to turn to face him.

Raph frowned at Leo's shell. The two of them angry with each other wasn't by any means unheard of. But, he thought as half his mouth lifted in a smirk, what he could do to get Leo's attention _had_ changed.

He rolled himself to his side so he was facing Leo and pressed his palm against Leo's shell. He watched Leo stiffen at the touch but the other turtle didn't make any further moves. So Raph pressed his fingertips into the grooves of Leo's shell and let himself get lost in the next few moments as he traced over the familiar patterns, only slightly aware that Leo's tense arm and leg muscles were relaxing the longer he explored. When he reached the rim, he slid his fingers over the edge from bottom to top. He paused when he saw Leo twitch, but Leo still didn't turn towards him. He shook his head silently at the back of his stubborn brother's head.

He pressed his palm into Leo's shell again, but this time he let his hand slide quickly down Leo's shell and directly to his ass, which he treated to a rough squeeze. Leo let out a sudden exhale and Raphael immediately shifted closer and leached his mouth onto the side of Leo's neck, encouraged when Leo tilted his head further into his pillow so that Raph had easier access.

"Quit bein mad at me," he growled as his fingers continued to knead over Leo's ass.

Leo only growled in return and the noise sparked something hot inside Raphael, only now the heat wasn't from anger. He sat himself up in the bed and quickly grabbed Leo's hips in order to reposition the other turtle onto his hands and knees. Leo finally looked in Raph's direction, although it was only to shoot him an angry glare.

Raphael let his hands slide down the backs of Leo's thighs and glanced at Leo's glare only long enough to send a lecherous grin back to him. Because other than twisting his head around to look at Raph, Leo wasn't moving out of the position Raph had placed him in. Raph leaned forward and let his tongue slide over Leo's tail as a reward.

Leo released a loud exhale and had barely recovered from the shock of Raph's warm tongue on his sensitive tail before he shuddered as Raph's fingers had snuck to his plastron and were insistently rubbing over his traitorous, bulging slit. He dropped down immediately, despite himself, and Raphael wasted no time stroking him as he mounted himself over Leo's shell in order to let his mouth attack Leo's neck again.

"Quit bein mad at me," Raphael growled again into the back of Leo's neck.

"That's – not fair," Leo huffed out as he felt Raph's solid weight on his shell. As Raph's breath hit his skin again before his teeth nipped at Leo's neck. As Raph's grip tightened as he continued to stroke him.

He swallowed hard to fight off a churr as he tried to remember why he was angry with Raphael in the first place.

Raphael kept most of his weight on Leo as he leaned over slightly and jerked Leo's bedside table drawer open to fish out a bottle. Then he pushed himself off Leo's shell, and released him completely in order to sit back on his own knees and pour some of the lube out onto his fingers. He pushed at Leo's legs, a silent request for Leo to spread them out a little further, and was pleased when Leo complied. He let his other hand go back to stroking Leo and he listened as Leo finally released a churr.

Leo let his upper body drop down to his elbows and his forehead fall to one of his arms as Raph's finger pressed into him. The nervous energy from the first time they did this was gone and Leo was already enjoying Raph's confidence as his finger brushed over Leo's insides. A few moments later and Raph's steady strokes stopped as that finger also left him, but Leo listened as the bottle of lube was popped open again. Then two fingers were pressed in as the other hand returned to stroke him in a maddeningly slow, tight pace. Leo churred again and rocked back on his knees towards Raphael, a move that had Raphael churr in response.

"Ya look damn good like this, Fearless," Raph gruffed as his own hips shifted forward where he sat. He pressed his fingers in further until Leo's head finally popped up off his arms with a loud shout of Raph's name. Raphael grinned, pleased to have not only finally found the spot he was looking for, but also to hear his name moaned out like that from Leo's mouth. He removed his hands from Leo again and mounted the other turtle's shell once more so that he could suck on the skin of Leo's neck.

Leo churred again as he saw Raph's muscled arms land on either side of his own arms and arched up as much as his shell would allow, pressing himself back against Raph's weight.

"Ya still mad?" Raph rumbled into Leo's neck.

Leo hesitated, even though it seemed silly to do so considering he was currently shifting his hips back so that Raph's hard shaft would rub against him. Finally, he shook his head.

Raphael shifted to give Leo a little bit more of what he wanted and pressed the tip of himself past Leo's tight entrance. "Say it," he growled. One hand reached back and quickly grabbed one of Leo's hips to prevent him from pushing himself back.

Leo groaned in pleasure at the strength he could feel in Raph's grip on his hip. "I'm not mad," he grunted.

Pleased, Raphael pushed himself further into Leo. He reached his hand around and began stroking Leo again, hoping to distract him as he moved slowly into him.

"I'm the one who should be mad," Raph grunted, letting his head fall to Leo's shell. "Ya ran off by yerself. Yer ass is lucky you didn't get hurt."

"My ass is lucky," Leo repeated, but he nudged himself back towards Raphael and earned a grunt and a chuckle from the larger turtle.

Once he was fully sheathed, he rocked himself back and forth over Leo's shell, not quite thrusting as he let Leo adjust to him, but following his instinct to move. "For some reason I don't feel like bein mad anymore either," he said.

Leo nodded. He'd been expecting Raph to yell at him for that at some point and was happy to avoid his own lecture. He shifted his knees out further, which shifted his hips and had him refocusing on the stretch. The pain from Raph's wide girth was still there, but nowhere near as bad as it had been that first time. He shifted his hips again and could already feel the sting giving way to pleasure.

Raphael listened as Leo's heavy breaths turned into moans beneath him as Leo's hips moved again and he finally pulled himself partway out and thrust back in. Leo churred and Raph repeated the motion, impressed that Leo was already ready for him to start moving.

"Feel good, Fearless?"

"Yes," Leo answered quickly as he rocked himself back towards Raphael.

"Still like me on top of ya?"

Leo moaned louder as Raphael's thrusts quickened. "Yes, Raph," he finally managed between grunts of pleasure.

"Why?"

Leo churred again as he felt heat spreading to his limbs. Raphael was still thrusting quickly behind him and he had no idea how Raph was managing to be so chatty.

"Love your strength," Leo finally managed to say. He felt Raph lean his weight onto his shell and soon Raph's lips were on his neck again. "And I - trust you," Leo continued. "I don't have to be - in charge here."

Raphael stilled his movements for a moment and stared down at Leo. "No ya don't," Raph whispered, feeling warmed by Leo's words alone. He met Leo's eyes as Leo turned to look up at him. "I'll take care of ya."

Leo turned his head as far as he could and Raphael shifted himself as well so that he could cover Leo's mouth with his own for a deep kiss before he leaned himself back and focused again on thrusting himself into Leo's tight inner walls. He repositioned himself slightly until finally Leo's head jerked up once more with a shout of Raph's name. Pleased to have found the spot he wanted, he aimed for it again and again until Leo was trembling and churring and exploding beneath him. It was an incredible sight and exactly what Raphael wanted to see before he let himself fall over that ledge as well.

Raph watched Leo collapse to the bed and he let himself fall down beside him. Despite being short of breath, he leaned forward and kissed Leo, letting himself stay there for a few moments as Leo's lips moved along slowly with his through panting breaths. Then he leaned back and just watched Leo rest next to him. Leo's eyes were shut and all the previous signs of anger and tension were gone from his now peaceful face.

"I think I figured out a new way to end fights with ya," he murmured over to Leo.

Leo pried his eyes open to look over at the smug Raphael.

"Did you? Or did I?"

Raphael narrowed his eyes at the small smile on Leo's face. But then his face smoothed out and he grinned as well as he pushed Leo onto his shell. He climbed on top of him and pinned Leo's wrists above his head.

"I know how to settle this, Fearless."


	23. Chapter 23

Woody melted against Mikey's plastron the second Mikey shut his bedroom door behind them and they were alone. Michelangelo's hands went around him and he found himself supporting Woody where they stood for a moment before Woody's legs seemed to find strength again.

"I'm so sorry, Woods," he whispered into Woody's curly hair. "I shoulda let you go home with Sam tonight but I needed to tell you how sorry I am that you got pulled into all -,"

Woody immediately began shaking his head. "Why would I go back with Sam?"

Mikey walked them across the room and sat Woody down on the edge of his bed, although he didn't join him. Instead he began pacing back and forth in front of him.

"Because you'd be safer with Sam."

Woody frowned. "Sam is like a big brother to me, but you honestly think I'd be safer with my nerdy roommate than with my ninja boyfriend?"

Mikey picked up an action figured and chucked it at the opposite wall before turning his big blue eyes at Woody. "Rahzar was after me and my brothers."

"Don't puppy-dog eyes me, Mikey. I'm fine."

" _This_ time, dude," Mikey said. "I know I'm not the smart turtle in this family but I do know that Rahzar is not the only bad guy left out there who would want to come after me and my brothers."

Woody felt his chest tighten as real fear hit him, for the second time that night, as he watched Mikey work himself up. He didn't want Michelangelo to push him away. Not now. Not after everything they'd already been through to be together.

"So then how many times am I going to be used as bait?" Woody asked, desperate to change the subject. "Cause I'm gonna need to start carrying a granola bar around or something."

"You're hungry?" Mikey asked, instantly focused on a new direction.

Woody nodded.

Mikey nodded in return, already thinking about what comfort foods he could make Woody, which led to wanting to comfort Woody once again. So he forgot about the kitchen for a moment and finally sat himself down next to Woody. He reached a hand up and let his finger run through Woody's fun curls and was immediately reminded that he'd do anything to keep his favorite human safe.

"I was really scared tonight," Mikey whispered, letting his hand drop from Woody's hair so that he could loop his fingers with Woody's fingers. He focused his eyes on their intertwined hands. "And after all that searching, it turns out you were taken because of me. I can't handle you hurt, Woods, especially _because_ of me. Maybe we should just - ,"

"I thought you said my home was where you were?" Woody quickly interjected, before Mikey could say something they'd both hate.

Mikey moved his eyes back to Woody's face and met Woody's worried brown eyes before nodding. "And I meant it," he said in a low voice, suddenly grateful to Woody for stopping his previous train of thought.

"Okay," Woody said, quickly nodding, eager to keep Mikey in this line of thinking. "Then I'll do whatever you want to stay safe. You can – you can escort me to work and back home even."

"That won't annoy you?"

"I could think of worse things," Woody said with a pointed look as he gave Mikey's fingers a hard squeeze.

"Do you think you could stay here? Like at night?" Mikey asked. "Just for a little while at least?"

"Of course," Woody said, letting go of Mikey's fingers so he could wrap his arms around the turtle's neck.

Mikey hugged him back and nuzzled his face into Woody's neck. "Are you still hungry?"

Woody shook his head. "I don't think I could eat right now," he said honestly.

"I'm sorry, Woods. I didn't mean to stress you out even more. I just want what's best for you."

"You are what's best for me, Mikester," Woody whispered. "I _love_ you."

"I love you too," Mikey whispered back. He let go of Woody only so he could help him remove his sneakers and his jeans before tucking them both in under the blanket. He let his fingers wander through Woody's hair again as he kissed him and then pulled Woody into his side.

Michelangelo listened as Woody's breathing finally evened out and his body relaxed against him. He knew keeping Woody was selfish. But Woody clearly didn't want to go. And Mikey was too far gone now to give him up. And even if he had to spend the rest of his life protecting Woody, he knew it would be well worth it. He shifted so that the rim of his shell wouldn't poke Woody's side as he pulled the sleeping human in closer to his plastron.

"Mine," he whispered out to whoever in the universe was listening.

* * *

"I wouldn't have just gone home if you were missin."

Leo felt barely conscious as he heard Raphael speak. He'd been passed out on his shell and he turned his sleepy face to the turtle who was still situated between his legs, and who was currently resting his chin on the arms he had crossed over Leo's plastron.

"You did go to sleep last night, right?" Leo groggily asked.

He still had one arm wrapped around Raph's shoulders and he tightened it for a moment in an attempt to hug the other turtle even closer. His eyelids still felt heavy but he was happy to notice that his limbs still had the same boneless feeling that Raphael had instilled in him earlier. He watched as Raph's green eyes glowed at him through the darkness, and he sighed as he realized Raph was still waiting for a response to his earlier statement.

"Okay," Leo said, relenting to the conversation Raphael clearly wanted to have. "I know you would've kept looking for me. Or for any of us. But this is _Mikey_. I mean, you remember when he jumped in to save Leatherhead from the Kraang that first time? And that was before he even knew Leatherhead. He didn't see a large, aggressive alligator, he just saw someone in trouble. And then there was that time we got Leatherhead's distress signal and he just jumped right through the Kraang portal without even knowing where he'd end up. He had absolutely no plan. He thinks with his heart, which I know we all love about him, but I was worried about his reactions given that Woody is someone he clearly loves. I was afraid about _what_ he'd jump right into this time. I didn't want to see him hurt."

Raphael watched Leo's blue eyes spark not only with empathy for their brother as he spoke, but also with a critical understanding of what he knew had to be done in this particular situation. Raph realized he didn't often think about Leo's leadership burdens, which definitely included knowing how each of his brothers would react in different situations. And he realized that everything Leo was telling him now must have crossed Leo's mind the moment he learned that Woody was missing. Raphael shifted his arms to Leo's sides and gave him a tight squeeze, thankful to see this side of Leo's thoughts. And he told himself he was going to ask Leo these kinds of questions more often going forward.

"Alright, Fearless," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't try harder to bring him home."

Leo shrugged as he smiled at Raphael. "He wasn't going to come home." He slid his free hand to the side of Raph's face and let his thumb brush across the other turtle's cheek. "I'd keep looking for you, too," he murmured.

Half of Raph's mouth twitched up into a grin and he shifted himself up Leo's plastron so he could reach his mouth to kiss him. Leo hummed happily through the kiss as he twisted his tongue around Raph's tongue and enjoyed being squeezed between Raph's strong arms. Raph moved his mouth down to Leo's neck and Leo turned his head, giving him a perfect view of the clock on his bedside table.

"Raphael!" he said, jerking his head away from the other. "I thought it was time to get up, you jerk. It's only three-thirty in the morning!"

"So?" Raph asked, doing his best to keep his smirk contained as he listened to Leo's tantrum.

"So? So we've only been asleep for an hour!" Leo groaned in frustration as he finally realized why his eyelids were hurting. He turned his head away from Raph's smirk and closed his eyes. "Go back to sleep."

Raphael chuckled and shifted himself so he could rest his arms on Leo's plastron as a pillow again. And despite his frustration, Leo let his fingers rub over Raph's biceps for a moment before he yawned and attempted a stretch so that he could truly settle back into sleep.

His neck and arms were extended when he suddenly flinched and then laughed when he felt Raph's mouth leach onto his neck again. "Hey, I was stretching!"

"Yeah," Raph husked out as he nudged his lower plastron against the turtle beneath him. "So am I."

Leo immediately churred at the visual and met Raph's mouth again for a kiss.

Sleep could wait.

* * *

"Whoa, whoa," April said, sticking her hand out with her palm up, "hand over the eyeliner."

Karai's hand froze in midair before she turned a frown towards the redhead who had suddenly invaded her room. She watched April's fingers wiggle in her direction and, against her better judgment, handed over the eyeliner.

"Where do you even find red eyeliner?" April said.

"It was provided to me," Karai said stiffly from where she sat cross-legged on the floor as she watched April stick the confiscated makeup in her back pocket.

April tilted her head. "Who showed you how to apply makeup?"

Karai lowered her other hand, which had been holding up her small mirror, and stared up at the young woman. She thought about making a sarcastic comment but snapped her mouth shut as soon as it opened, deciding _not_ to alienate the one other female within her new family. Plus, she reminded herself, April O'Neil had grown up without a mother as well, and she probably wasn't intending to tease.

"Shredder had an older kunoichi come in and show me," she said slowly.

April paused as she pictured a younger Karai taking lessons from a woman who was only helping her as a _favor_ to the Shredder. It was a sad visual. Similar to a solo April learning by watching makeup tutorials on YouTube sad.

"Well," April said with a small smile, "that's not a sentence that many people can say."

"You and I can say a lot of sentences that not many people can say," Karai said, satisfied with April's response. She picked up her lipstick and turned back to her mirror, but then found herself pausing and looking expectantly up at April.

"I like the lipstick," April said softly. She watched Karai apply it before speaking again. "So, where are you and Sam going tonight?"

Karai pushed herself up to stand. "He gave me an address to meet him. I think dinner and then I'm not sure."

"Do you, uh, have any clothes that aren't – black?"

Karai looked down at her outfit and then shook her head. "Well, except for those sweats you put me in the other day when I came home freezing from the Foot headquarters. I'm keeping those, by the way."

"I figured," April murmured. "Here." She took her backpack off her shoulder and handed it over to Karai. "Not to keep. To _borrow_. Until you can go buy some new clothes."

"So you bag two guys at once and think you're an expert, huh?" Karai asked as she took the backpack. She tuned away from the redhead to dump the clothing options on her bed, but not before April saw the small grateful smile on her face.

"You know you're probably going to have some turtles trailing you on the way home tonight. Just to make sure you're okay."

Karai groaned. "Keep Donnie busy at least, will you?"

"Oh, I've got Donnie. And Mikey will be busy with Woody. It's the other two you're going to have to worry about."

"Oh brothers," Karai murmured, still unable to keep the smile from her face.

* * *

Casey wandered the lair looking for his two favorites. They said they'd both be here, but so far, he hadn't found either of them. He was about to pull out his phone when he heard a grunting noise that he recognized as Donnie's based on the shiver that ran down his spine in reaction to it. He spun around to a nearby closed door, but stopped just outside it when he heard Donnie begin to speak in a strained voice.

"Its – its not going to fit, April."

"Just push harder."

"April," Donnie said in a groan that had Casey placing his hand on the door. "Seriously, this isn't going to go in there."

"Don't quit on me now, D."

Casey sucked in a breath as he heard Donnie groan again.

"I mean it Donnie," April said, beginning to sound breathless herself. "I need this. And we're not doing it by hand."

Casey shoved the door open and burst into the room, leading both Donnie and April to turn and look at him in surprise. He stared back at the two of them with his mouth open in shock.

"Jones get over here and help me shove this in," April said. "Donnie doesn't think our new bedding is going to fit in the washing machine."

Donnie grunted again as he tried to maneuver more of the ridiculously puffy king-sized comforter, that April had chosen, into the machine.

"Do you or do you not want to sleep in that new bed that has enough space for all three of us tonight?" April said in response to Donnie's complaining grunt.

The mental images running through his head from just listening to the other two from outside that door _and_ the promise that all three of them would soon be in Donnie's new king-sized bed had Casey surging forward in order to help cram the bedding into the machine.

Donnie stood back and watched the hockey player. "You okay, Jones? You look a little flushed."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The End.
> 
> I'd like to say a special thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a review or a message, as they always brightened my day. Always.
> 
> [Also, here's a link back to Flickr for the picture, which is kind enough to let me store my photos to be embedded in stories](https://flic.kr/p/W2Aohw)   
> 

**Author's Note:**

> [You can find me on Tumblr here!](https://reader115-tmnt.tumblr.com/)


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